ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News

Scientists have identified a mechanism that explains how fine air pollution particles might cause lung cancer, according to a new study.

Researchers have found a high incidence of coffee leaf rust (CLR) disease in Vietnam, the world's second-largest coffee producer. Potential origins and migration routes were revealed, as well as a close genetic relationship with several Central and South American rust fungus populations. These findings will help to predict future spread of CLR, and highlight the need to consider seedling sources and human activities in CLR management.

Can iron-rich dust fertilize the ocean, stimulate algae growth there, and thereby capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? An international research team used deep-sea sediment cores from the Scotia Sea to investigate whether this hypothetical greenhouse gas sink had an effect during ice ages. Although dust input was high during ice ages, no evidence of a fertilization effect could be found in the Antarctic Ocean. Rather, the production of algae, for example, and thus carbon dioxide sequestration, was high only during warm periods when dust input was low.

Increasingly large and intense wildfires in the Pacific Northwest are altering the seasonal pattern of air pollution and causing a spike in unhealthy pollutants in August, according to new research. The smoke is undermining clean air gains, posing potential risks to the health of millions of people, according to the study.

Scientists have recorded the first North American case of a harmful phytoplasma disease known for its threat to fruit, vegetable and ornamental crops in South America and the Middle East. To make matters worse, scientists confirmed the host for the disease to be one of the most noxious and rapidly spreading weeds commonly found in a wide range of environments throughout the United States and into Canada.

Researchers have determined the atom-by-atom structure of the fermentation enzyme phosphoketolase by cryogenic electron microscopy. They identified details that were mistakenly characterized by X-ray crystallography yet are essential for correlating enzyme structure with enzyme function. These findings will help researchers produce chemical feedstocks in an environmentally sustainable manner, and thus lower the carbon footprint of the chemical industry.