{
  "id": 2064003,
  "title": "Fine-particle pollution may undermine plants' ability to absorb carbon and conserve water",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/fine-particle-pollution-may-undermine-plants-ability-to-absorb-carbon",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-20T02:40:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Phys.org",
    "slug": "phys-org",
    "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fine-particle-pollution-undermine-ability.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Researchers at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have discovered that fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) significantly impairs plants' ability to use water efficiently and absorb carbon dioxide.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}