Word: absorb
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the Gulf of Mexico. Between 1940 and 1980, the number of Americans who live within 50 miles of a seashore increased from 42 million to 89 million -- and the total is still mounting. Coastal waters are getting perilously close to reaching their capacity to absorb civilization's wastes...
Whatever the precise cause, trouble begins when the level of pollutants in the water overwhelms the capacity of estuaries to assimilate them. The overtaxed system, unable to absorb any more nutrients or contaminants, simply passes them along toward bays and open coastal areas. "When the system is working," says Maurice Lynch, a biological oceanographer at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, "it can take a lot of assault. But when it gets out of whack, it declines rapidly...
...major factor in the formation of cataracts, in which the normally transparent lens of the eye becomes cloudy or opaque. About 15% of people over 65 suffer reduced vision from cataracts; many eventually undergo surgery to have the lens replaced. Some ophthalmologists also believe that decades of absorbing ultraviolet-A may lead to destruction of cells in the center of the retina. The condition, known as macular degeneration, is a leading cause of blindness in the elderly. Unlike cataracts, it is not correctable. While acknowledging that the evidence linking sunlight to cataracts and retinal damage is not conclusive, many doctors...
...labels are inadequate. ANSI divides sunglasses into three categories: fashion spectacles that shield eyes from only 70% of UV-B and less than 60% of UV-A; everyday eyewear that screens out 95% of UV-B and between 60% and 92% of UV-A; and special-purpose glasses that absorb almost 99% of ultraviolet rays...
...those who are aghast at how much money their gardens can absorb, there is some consolation in thinking of it as an investment. "One thing this generation has discovered," says Rodger Duer, vice president of the mammoth Monrovia nurseries in California and Oregon, "is that a nice garden helps sell a house." Considerable seed money has been directed into landscaping, roughly $3 billion last year, $745 million more than the year before. Such expenditures, by some estimates, can boost the value of real estate by 7% to 15%. Young anglophiles hope that a wanton English garden with piles...