aerosol: (adj. aerosolized) A tiny solid or liquid particle suspended in air or as a gas. Aerosols can be natural, such as fog or gas from volcanic eruptions, or artificial, such as smoke from burning fossil fuels.
asthma: A disease affecting the body’s airways, which are the tubes through which animals breathe. Asthma obstructs these airways through swelling, the production of too much mucus or a tightening of the tubes. As a result, the body can expand to breathe in air, but loses the ability to exhale appropriately. The most common cause of asthma is an allergy. Asthma is a leading cause of hospitalization and the top chronic disease responsible for kids missing school.
average: (in science) A term for the arithmetic mean, which is the sum of a group of numbers that is then divided by the size of the group.
colleague: Someone who works with another; a co-worker or team member.
diesel fuel: Heavier and oilier than gasoline, this is another type of fuel made from crude oil. It’s used to power many engines — not only in cars and trucks but also to power some industrial motors — that don’t rely on spark plugs to ignite the fuel.
economist: Someone who works in the field of economics: how a society’s resources relate to the things it produces or achieves. Often this is measured in the goods people make, the money they earn or the costs they encounter (such as pollution or sickness). Economists might calculate this for something as small as a village or as large as a nation — even for workers living across the globe.
epidemiologist: Like health detectives, these researchers look to link a particular illness to what might have caused it and/or allowed it to spread.
fossil fuel: Any fuel — such as coal, petroleum (crude oil) or natural gas — that has developed within the Earth over millions of years from the decayed remains of bacteria, plants or animals.
global warming: The gradual increase in the overall temperature of Earth’s atmosphere due to the…
Read the full article here