Environment

Environment

What we know and don’t know about wildfire smoke’s health risks

As wildfires become more frequent and severe in California, Oregon and throughout the West Coast, concerns rise about harmful air pollution.

Environment

This moth may outsmart smog by learning to like pollution-altered aromas

In the lab, scientists taught tobacco hawkmoths that a scent changed by ozone is from a favorite flower.

Earth

Improved three-week weather forecasts could save lives from disaster

Meteorologists are pushing to make forecasts good enough to fill the gap between short-term and seasonal.

Climate

Emissions dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic. The climate impact won’t last

New estimates suggest coronavirus shutdowns cut global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels by nearly 30 percent, on average.

Ecosystems

To save Appalachia’s endangered mussels, scientists hatched a bold plan

Biologists have just begun to learn whether their bold plan worked to save the golden riffleshell, a freshwater mussel teetering on the brink of extinction.

Health & Medicine

Many U.S. neighborhoods with the worst air 40 years ago remain the most polluted

Air pollution has declined in the United States, but marginalized communities are still disproportionately affected despite the improvement.

Microbes

Scientists stumbled across the first known manganese-fueled bacteria

A jar left soaking in an office sink helped scientists answer a century-old question of whether bacteria can use manganese for energy.

Earth

Agriculture and fossil fuels are driving record-high methane emissions

Releases of the heat-trapping gas methane from human activities have ramped up in the 21st century, especially in Africa and Asia.

Earth

Smoke from Australian fires rose higher into the ozone layer than ever before

The catastrophic wildfires in Australia around New Year’s generated a massive smoke plume that still hasn’t dissipated in the stratosphere.

Environment

How giving cash to poor families may also save trees in Indonesia

Indonesia’s poverty reduction program also reduced deforestation by 30 percent, researchers say.

Earth

Up to 220 million people globally may be at risk of arsenic-contaminated water

A new world map highlights possible hot spots of arsenic contamination in groundwater.

Climate

How to protect your home from disasters amplified by climate change

How people can make their homes and communities more resilient to the effects of climate change, including floods, fires, heat and drought.