Noise pollution negatively influences bird populations

September 23rd, 2009 LONDON - A new research by scientists has determined that blue whales have had to increase their 'singing' to cope with noise pollution from ships. Man-made noise such as ships' engines has caused hearing loss in whales.

September 16th, 2009 EPA limits pollution from medical incineratorsWASHINGTON — About 50 medical waste incinerators nationwide will have to reduce their air pollution under new regulations announced Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA said that the new rules, which require better monitoring and tighten emissions limits, will reduce toxic pollution from the burning of medical waste by 390,000 pounds annually and likely result in no new incinerators being built.

August 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Musical training could enhance a person's ability to hear speech despite the deleterious effects of background noise by strengthening auditory memory and the representation of important acoustic features, according to a new Northwestern University study. The study showed that musicians, who are trained to hear sounds embedded in a rich network of melodies and harmonies, are primed to understand speech in a noisy background, say in a restaurant, classroom or plane.

July 28th, 2009 NTSB meets on Okla. plane brought down by pelicanWASHINGTON — Federal safety officials are considering whether more needs to be done to prevent bird-plane collisions as they study results of an investigation into the cause of a crash in Oklahoma last year that killed five men.

July 27th, 2009 NTSB to consider 2008 bird collision that killed 5WASHINGTON — For the five men who took off from a small Oklahoma airport aboard a business jet that ran into a large bird, there was no miracle river landing. The twin-engine Cessna Citation 500 had climbed to 3,100 feet and was passing over a corner of Oklahoma City's Lake Overholser on March 4, 2008, when it collided with a white pelican, one of North America's largest bird species.

July 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has come up with the strongest evidence yet that noise pollution negatively influences the nesting habits of birds. The study also indicates that at least a few species opt for noisy areas over quiet ones, perhaps because of their vocalisation pitches, a reduction in nest predators and less competition from other song birds that prefer quiet environments.

July 1st, 2009 EPA proposes regulations to cut ship pollutionWASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing tougher rules to reduce air pollution from large oceangoing ships, including oil tankers and cargo vessels. The agency announced Wednesdays it is beginning work on a regulation that would cut harmful chemicals releases from smokestacks of ships within 200 miles of the U.S.

June 30th, 2009 LONDON - Pedestrians and cyclists in urban areas of the UK are being transformed into mobile pollution sensors, as part of a Government-backed scheme to monitor air quality. According to a report by Sky News, researchers, led by a team at Imperial College London, will trial three new types of sensors on people, vehicles and traffic islands to measure traffic emissions and noise pollution.

June 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A recent study by Australian biologist Jim Underwood has found that despite the fact that corals cast their eggs and sperm haphazardly into the oceans, certain species of coral show remarkable loyalty to their home range. Underwood sampled DNA from coral reefs in the Indiana Ocean and found that individual corals located in the same group of reefs are more closely related than previously thought.

June 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - While the U.S. mass transit system is considered to be one of the safest modes of travel that provides affordable and efficient transportation to over 33 million riders each weekday, recent public health studies suggest that it is also linked with some sources of environmental hazards, including excessive noise.

June 16th, 2009 Washington, June 16 (ANI): A scientist of Indian origin has designed a tool that takes into consideration all feasible solutions for decreasing non-point source pollution for the amount of money available. The scientist in question is Indrajeet Chaubey, an associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, Purdue University.

June 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An American study has found a link between alterations in bird songs and the rapid change in the surrounding habitat. Elizabeth Derryberry, a behavioural ecologist and post-doctoral researcher at the LSU Museum of Natural Science, says that she has studied this phenomenon since her time as a graduate student at Duke University, where she discovered tapes from ornithologist Luis Baptista.

June 8th, 2009 Bird-proof engines, pilot training on NTSB agendaWASHINGTON — The ability of aircraft engines to withstand collisions with large birds is a chief concern of federal safety investigators opening hearingsTuesday on the forced landing of a USAirways jet in the Hudson River. National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt, who will chair the three-day hearing, said the accident has made safety officials, the aviation industry and the public more aware of the growing likelihood of bird-plane collisions.

March 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Conservation efforts are helping stem dwindling numbers of some bird species, according to report based on 40 years of data analysed by official US agencies. The report shows such efforts have protected 30 million acres of wetlands and contributed to thriving populations of hunted waterfowl, herons, egrets and other birds, according to the US State of the Birds report.

February 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Commercial ships account for almost half as much particulate pollution as the total amount released by cars, according to a new study. The study estimate that worldwide, ships emit about a million kilos of particulate pollution each year.