CitiesGoGreen - January 2009 - (Page 7) Air Quality Affects IQ Studies in Mexico City and Boston, indicate that air pollution permanently lowers IQ scores. In a study of Boston’s children involving researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, heavy exposure to the tailpipe emission black carbon caused a 3.4 point drop in IQ scores, which researchers compared to a pregnant mother smoking ten cigarettes a day. In another study, widespread intelligence declines in healthy children from smog-ridden Mexico City were associated through repeated MRI scans with brain inflammation in the prefrontal cortex and lower cognitive abilities. According to study coauthor Randall Engle of the Georgia Institute of Technology, air pollution hurts productivity: “Saving money by failing to curb pollution truly is a matter of ‘pay me now or pay me later.’” Photo © Martina Berg - fotolia Broken Windows Theory Tested: True The Economist reports on experiments by Kees Keizer and colleagues at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, testing the “broken windows” theory that bad behavior encourages more of the same. In an alley used for parking bikes researchers attached an advertising flyer to bike handlebars. They did this when the alley was freshly painted and when it had graffiti (a sign prohibited graffiti in both cases). When graffiti was present, more than twice as many people dropped the flyer on the ground or stuck it on another bike. In another experiment, when bikes were parked near a sign forbidding bike parking, more than three times the pedestrians likewise ignored posted instructions to avoid a useful shortcut. In a third experiment, twice as many people stole some money visible in an envelope stuck in a mailbox when the surroundings were littered than when clean. Clearly, many are influenced by their observations of the quality of the actions of those around them. How could this now-proven effect be used to promote sustainable actions as opposed to wasteful ones? Add your comments and ideas at CitiesGoGreen.com Photo © Al Pavangkanan It Adds Up: Turn Off Unused Computers Massachusetts is saving $2 million a year and reducing its annual carbon emissions by more that 5,000 tons. How? By turning off government computers when not in use. A new state policy mandates that computers must be switched off during non-business hours and must automatically enter sleep mode after a period of inactivity (10 minutes for monitors, 30 minutes for computers). Screensavers are banned. The policy affects Photo © Tombaky - fotolia about 80% of executive branch computers, some 32,000 computers in all. The remaining 20%, engaged in critical applications such as traffic monitoring or public safety, are exempt. “Although the energy saved for each PC seems like a small step,” Division of Information Technology officer Anne Margulies said in the Boston Globe, “they add up to big savings.” If state colleges and universities and nonexecutive branch agencies joined in, even more could be saved. 7 January 2009 http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/january-2009/inmotion/air-quality-affects-iq http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/sep/2008/loweriq.cfm http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSKUA57144920080215 http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSKUA57144920080215 http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/37515/title/Bad_air_for_growing_brains_and_minds http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/37515/title/Bad_air_for_growing_brains_and_minds http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/january-2009/inmotion/broken-windows-theory-tested-true http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12630201&CFID=31056247&CFTOKEN=41038121 http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_2_sndgs07.html http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_2_sndgs07.html http://www.CitiesGoGreen.com http://www.CitiesGoGreen.com http://citiesgogreen.com/issues/january-2009/inmotion/it-adds-up-turn-off-unused-computers http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/09/state_workers_u.html http://www.CitiesGoGreen.com
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