Environmental Health

"The area of North Bellport on Long Island sits in the shadows of a massive landfill. This predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood also has the lowest life expectancy on Long Island, as well as the second-highest rates of asthma. Environmental activists do not think this is a coincidence, and for decades they have waged a battle to shut down the Brookhaven Landfill, which they believe is making their community sick."

"Utility officials in Maine and elsewhere around the country are developing first-of-their-kind plans to eliminate toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” from sewage sludge spread as fertilizer on farmland."

"Environmental advocates and community groups already exposed to high levels of air pollution fear that additional lanes will exacerbate health risks in Southwest Side neighborhoods."

"More than 40 years have passed since EPA’s noise regulation program was silenced by a Reagan-era rollback. It’s time to start again, in the view of an advocacy group that accuses the agency of turning its back on a major peril."

"Funders thought watching bats wasn’t important. Then she helped solve the mystery of a deadly virus."

"Numerous global reforestation efforts are underway, but research suggests getting long-term benefits is harder than it looks, and some projects can do more harm than good."

"The outcome of a Chemours Co. lawsuit challenging a PFAS health advisory the EPA set for drinking water could affect cleanups, public health, and regulatory processes, attorneys said in recent interviews. The lawsuit focuses on a particular PFAS used to make a type of chemical, perfluoroalkoxy alkanes (PFA), important to the semiconductor industry."

"The World Meteorological Organization, in an updated report, tallied nearly 12,000 extreme weather, climate and water-related events over the past half-century around the globe that have killed more than 2 million people and caused economic damage of $4.3 trillion."

"Global heating will drive billions of people out of the “climate niche” in which humanity has flourished for millennia, a study has estimated, exposing them to unprecedented temperatures and extreme weather."