New research tallies the effects of gas- and diesel-burning vehicle emissions on the climate, as well as on human health. Together, the emissions cause more than 200,000 premature deaths each year.
public health
Eight Lessons from COVID-19 to Guide Our Climate Response
The global response to the ongoing pandemic can teach us how we should, and shouldn’t, respond to the climate crisis. And most important, it shows that we can do something.
How to Turn Our Cities Into Treetopias
We are and will continue to plant more street trees, urban groves and informal clusters of trees in our parks and green spaces. Treetopia has begun.
Oktoberfest’s Methane Rise Is the Wurst
Incomplete combustion and biogenic emissions—exhalations and flatulence—make Oktoberfest a significant, albeit temporary, source of the potent greenhouse gas.
Geohealth: Science’s First Responders
At the intersection of human health and the environment, the emerging field called geohealth can teach us how not to repeat mistakes made in past disasters.
Coronavirus Lockdown Brings Clean Air to Spanish Cities
Measures against the spread of the new coronavirus have an unexpected side effect: record-low air pollution levels.
Fresh Approaches to Protecting Human Health from Pollution
New low-cost monitoring and mapping techniques can identify multiple pollution sources and reduce related human disease and death.
New Models Give Global Picture of Mercury Content in Oceans
Concentrations of methylated mercury in high latitudes show the importance of sunlight and biological activity for cycling the metal.
How Death and Disaster Followed the Shale Gas Boom in Appalachia
In the past decade, fracking has contributed to the deaths of more than a thousand people and the emission of more than a thousand tons of carbon dioxide in the Appalachian Basin.
Drugs in Our Water Can Leave Even More Toxic By-Products
The chemicals in our pharmaceuticals and personal care products quickly transform into different compounds when they enter the environment. Their toxic effects are relatively unknown.