skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Reducing Indoor Air Pollution as Wildfires, Ozone Send Kids, Others Inside

play audio
Play

Tuesday, September 7, 2021   

DENVER - During a summer filled with bad-air-quality-alert days across Colorado, children, people with respiratory illnesses and older residents have been forced to spend more time indoors.

Wildfire smoke and ground-level ozone created by exhaust and searing temperatures have been the culprits. Dr. Sheela Mahnke - pediatrician at EveryChild Pediatrics - said climate change already is impacting the children she sees, especially kids with asthma.

"Kids are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as well as air pollution," said Mahnke, "just because of their body size, the amount of air they breathe per minute, and their developing bodies, lungs, brains."

Communities of color and low-income households are disproportionately impacted by indoor and outdoor air pollution and its negative health outcomes. To reduce pollution inside homes, experts say avoid anything that burns, including candles, fireplaces and gas stoves.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles found that one hour of cooking on a gas stove produces nitrogen dioxide at levels that would be illegal if found outdoors.

Families that can't afford electric appliances are advised to use back burners, and keep the vent running while cooking.

Natural gas burned inside homes also sends methane, a powerful heat-trapping gas, into the atmosphere.

Barbara Gottlieb - the environment and health program director for Physicians for Social Responsibility - said lawmakers and industry need to find a way to equip homes and workplaces to run on electricity produced from clean sources, and stop burning natural gas.

"Its power in terms of trapping heat in the atmosphere is more than 80 times that of carbon dioxide over a short time frame," said Gottlieb. "So for the sake of climate, you want to reduce your use of methane every way that you can."

The latest report by the world's top climate scientists confirms that less than a decade remains to dramatically cut greenhouse-gas emissions and avoid potentially catastrophic impacts.

Mahnke said she believes the time to act on climate is now.

"We're not waiting to see the impacts of climate change any more," said Mahnke. "We're really seeing the impacts now. And we need to act in a way that we can make a more green and equitable world for our children."



get more stories like this via email
more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021