CARTAGENA, Colombia – A small group of climate pollutants– including the air pollutants black carbon, methane, and ozone – are responsible for nearly half of global temperature increases to date.  Reducing these emissions, which only remain in the atmosphere for a few weeks to decades, could serve as the “emergency brake” critical to halting runaway […] Continue reading ->
Many glaciers in western Canada, the United States, Scandinavia, Central Europe, the Caucasus, New Zealand and the tropics will not survive the 21st century – and this will have a “dramatic impact” on mountain communities and hundreds of millions of people who depend on water that originates from these glaciers. These are the key findings […] Continue reading ->
The US Environmental Protection Agency announced it would seek to roll back 31 climate, air and water pollution, and emissions regulations, declaring this is the “biggest deregulatory action” in US history. Leading environmental health voices say that rolling back pollution and climate regulations will inextricably harm the public’s health, though the Trump administration asserts that […] Continue reading ->
A four-year, multi-country trial measuring health impacts of reduced indoor air pollution due to the shifting of households from biomass to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has yielded  mixed results – defying expectations that reduced indoor air pollution would yield significant health benefits. The study of 3,200 households in four Asian, African and Latin America countries […] Continue reading ->
Encephalitis “remains under-recognized, under-diagnosed, and underfunded”,  according to a new policy report from the World Health Organization (WHO). Climate change, vaccine hesitancy, and the rising burden of vector-borne diseases are also fuelling an increased number of encephalitis cases, a rare but serious inflammation of the brain.  The technical document urges coordinated global action to “confront […] Continue reading ->
WHO Member States appeared to give strong backing to a proposed new WHO roadmap to reduce air pollution’s health impacts – with the ambitious global goal of cutting mortality attributable to human-produced sources by 50% by 2040.  At the same time, a draft Climate Change and Health Action Plan, also aired at Saturday’s WHO Executive […] Continue reading ->
Hours after reclaiming the presidency, Donald Trump moved swiftly on Monday to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement and unleash a barrage of executive orders aimed at dismantling US climate policy, boosting fossil fuel production, and undercutting green energy technologies. The sweeping actions, which are expected to trigger months of legal challenges […] Continue reading ->