Jul 19, 2013

Raw sewage makes summer swimming hazardous in New York's Hudson

New Yorkers and tourists tempted to cool off during the current heat wave by plunging into the Hudson River have been warned: It has never been more dangerous. Researchers at Columbia University reported Thursday that antibiotic-resistant bacteria is widespread in the river that flows ...

Jun 25, 2013

Frequency of storms linked to aerosols

Higher levels of air pollution reduced the frequency of North Atlantic hurricanes and other tropical storms for most of the 20th century, a study said Sunday. Adding to evidence for mankind’s impact on the weather system, the probe found a link between these powerful ...

Jun 22, 2013

Jakarta sends in choppers to seed clouds, fight fires

Indonesia on Friday dispatched helicopters to create artificial rain in a desperate bid to fight raging fires that are choking Singapore with record-breaking levels of smog that is threatening people’s lives. At a late-night emergency meeting, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered disaster officials to ...

China to hold local leaders responsible for air quality

Jun 17, 2013

China to hold local leaders responsible for air quality

China has pledged to hold local government leaders responsible for improving air quality, officials say, after heavy smog nationwide earlier this year stoked social discontent. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China, the equivalent of its Cabinet, announced the move along with ...

Jun 8, 2013

Social cost of carbon is rising: U.S.

Buried in an obscure regulation on microwave ovens is a revealing change in President Barack Obama’s approach to global warming. Last week, the Department of Energy announced an update to its energy-efficiency standards for microwaves, requiring newer models to use less power while in ...

Jun 4, 2013

U.K. lawmakers rebuke Cameron

Lawmakers in Prime Minister David Cameron’s coalition this week plan to rebel against the government in favor of setting pollution targets earlier, a measure industry groups say will hurt the economy. Some members of the ruling Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties plan to join ...

May 14, 2013

Warming to hit half of plants, a third of animals: study

More than half of common species of plants and a third of animal species are likely to see their living space halved by 2080 on current trends of carbon emissions, a climate study said Sunday. Output of man-made greenhouse gases is putting Earth on ...

May 7, 2013

Japan, S. Korea, China to share air pollutant data

Japan, China and South Korea have agreed to share information on cross-border pollution, including on PM2.5 — hazardous particulate matter measuring below 2.5 microns — through a trilateral working-level panel. In a joint statement adopted after two days of talks wrapped up Monday in ...

Apr 9, 2013

Smog-eating pavement on greenest street in U.S.

The big rigs rattling past smokestacks sure don’t make this Chicago roadway look like the greenest street in America. But their tires roll over smog-eating pavement, the streetlights run on solar and wind power, the sidewalks were made with recycled concrete, and shrub-filled “bioswales” ...

Apr 2, 2013

Exxon Mobil mops up large pipeline spill

Exxon Mobil said that one of its pipelines leaked “a few thousand” barrels of Canadian heavy crude oil near Mayflower, Arkansas, late Friday, prompting the evacuation of 22 homes and reinforcing concerns many critics have raised about the Keystone XL pipeline that is awaiting ...