Science

Humans have been influencing landscapes and ecosystems on a global scale for far longer than people usually think, archeologists said in a newly published study.

"Through the Smoke and Fumes Committee, industry blurred the science surrounding air pollution and worked to forestall unwanted regulation."

"One of the most popular herbicides in U.S. agriculture can be dangerous to animals and fish and leaves behind worrisome residue levels, the Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday in a draft report that sparked outrage among farmers."

"While Arctic ice is melting at a record pace, a team of NASA-led researchers say they can explain why Antarctic sea ice has been edging in the opposite direction. That paradox has puzzled scientists for years and given climate-change deniers fodder to dispute global warming."

"A new study out this week doesn't show a definitive link, but reopens the debate over whether cell phones cause cancer."

"The National Association of Science Writers (NASW), founded in 1934 as one of the nation’s first professional journalism organizations, is in the midst of an existential crisis, and a report released this week suggests that the internal strife could well tear it apart."

"Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told California voters Friday that he can solve their water crisis, declaring, 'There is no drought.'"

"Stonehenge eroding under the forces of extreme weather. The city of Venice slowly collapsing into its canals. The gradual flooding of the Statue of Liberty. Images like these, familiar from Hollywood climate-catastrophe thrillers, were evoked by a joint report, released on Thursday by Unesco, the United Nations Environment Program and the Union of Concerned Scientists, that detailed the threat climate change could pose to World Heritage sites on five continents."

"Donations tied to Exxon have totaled more than $600,000 since 2001, and a former Exxon vice president sits on the AGU's board of directors."

"A UN panel that on Tuesday ruled that glyphosate was probably not carcinogenic to humans has now become embroiled in a bitter row about potential conflicts of interests. It has emerged that an institute co-run by the chairman of the UN’s joint meeting on pesticide residues (JMPR) received a six-figure donation from Monsanto, which uses the substance as a core ingredient in its bestselling Roundup weedkiller."