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Have Scientists Discovered How to Make Rain in the Desert?

* Technology created 50 rainstorms in Abu Dhabi’s Al Ain region last year

For centuries people living in the Middle East have dreamed of turning the sandy desert into land fit for growing crops with fresh water on tap.

Now that holy grail is a step closer after scientists employed by the ruler of Abu Dhabi claim to have generated a series of downpours.

Fifty rainstorms were created last year in the state’s eastern Al Ain region using technology designed to control the weather. [...]

American Lung Association Report: State of the Air 2009 – Air Quality Report

The American Lung Association has released their annual air quality report for 2009. You can view information on ozone readings, particle pollution, groups at risk and more. Click the map below.

Breathing polluted air can seriously harm your health and even shorten your life. For 10 years, the American Lung Association has used data from state air quality monitors to produce its annual State of the Air report. The more you learn about the air you breathe, the more you can protect your health and take steps to make our air cleaner and healthier.

View the Full Report Here and choose a state to see the report for your area.

Air Quality Report for 2009 [...]

EPA Study Shows Over 600 Neighborhoods with Elevated Risk of Cancer Causing Agents in Air

WASHINGTON – Millions of people living in nearly 600 neighborhoods across the country are breathing concentrations of toxic air pollutants that put them at a much greater risk of contracting cancer, according to new data from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The levels of 80 cancer-causing substances released by automobiles, factories and other sources in these areas exceed a 100 in 1 million cancer risk. That means that if 1 million people breathed air with similar concentrations over their lifetime, about 100 additional people would be expected to develop cancer because of their exposure to the pollution.

Environmental Protection Agency Seal [...]

Idaho farmers sue federal agency over contaminated and lost crops

When his beets came in patchy, pushing through the soil with misshapen and discolored leaves, Perry Van Tassell did what most farmers would do: He watered more. And more. And more.

He came to believe his land had been tainted with Oust, a potent herbicide that kills plants by attacking their roots and leaves.

The pesticide had been spread across more than 100,000 acres of nearby public land at the direction of the Bureau of Land Management, which was hoping to prevent the spread of invasive weeds on land that had been scorched by wildfire.

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