A rough transition to a new asthma inhaler

Air pollution impedes bees’ ability to find flowers
Air pollution interferes with the ability of bees and other insects to follow the scent of flowers to their source, undermining the essential process of pollination, a study by three University of Virginia researchers suggests. Scientists are seeking to determine why honeybees and bumblebees are dying off in the United States and in other countries, and the new study indicates that emissions from power plants and automobiles may play a part in the insects’ demise. Scientists already knew that scent-bearing hydrocarbon molecules released by flowers can be destroyed when they come into contact with ozone and other pollutants. Environmental sciences professor Jose Fuentes at the University of Virginia and his team used a mathematical model to determine how flowers’ scents travel with the wind and how quickly they come into contact with pollutants. They described their results in the March issue of the journal Atmospheric Environment. In the prevailing conditions before the 1800s, the researchers calculated a flower’s scent could travel between 3,280 ft and 4,000 ft, Fuentes said, but today, that scent might travel 650-1,000 ft in highly polluted areas. This phenomenon triggers a cycle, the authors noted, in which the pollinators have trouble finding sufficient food, and as a result their populations decline. That, in turn, translates into decreased pollination and keeps flowering plants, including many fruits and vegetables, from proliferating. (LAT-WP)

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