When indoor air pollution makes the news in western countries, it often feels like a local issue. One week it focuses on wood-burning stoves. Another it is gas cookers or the question of whether people should open their windows more often in winter.
As flooding receded in parts of Albania on Tuesday, the Balkan nation's polluted waterways are being blamed for worsening the impacts amid fears that floodwaters filled with plastic waste could reach the Adriatic Sea.
The wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles a year ago were among the worst in California's history. They were exacerbated by persistent drought, a buildup of vegetation and Santa Ana winds which, at times, exceeded 80 mph. The most damaging fires, which reduced Altadena and Pacific Palisades to ashes, were finally extinguished on January 31, 2025.
Small businesses are planning to hire fewer recent college graduates than they did in 2025, making it likely harder for this cohort to find entry-level jobs.
Most people are aware that plastic waste is a problem. Almost all types of plastics that we use in our everyday lives are derived from fossil sources. When they end up in the environment, they cause pollution for generations. When incinerated in a waste incineration plant, they release climate-warming CO₂ into the atmosphere. Recycling is therefore the better option: Used plastics provide the raw materials for new ones, closing the loop.
Researchers at National Taiwan University reveal that combined exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics and the preservative butylparaben, at a level considered safe on their own, can cause heritable harm, disrupting reproduction across generations through epigenetic changes.
Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, in collaboration with Osaka University and the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism behind the activation of the Met receptor—a key player in tissue regeneration and cancer progression.
As winter heating costs rise, new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York reveals a cold truth. Renters—who make up approximately one-third of the U.S. population—are missing out on energy efficiency improvements that could lower their bills, make their apartments more comfortable and improve their health.
Avian flu has been blamed for the deaths of 32 birds at Lake Eola Park since Dec. 17, including 26 of the city's signature swans.
Lions in Kenya respond very differently to human land use, climate and conservation practices. That is the conclusion of thesis from Leiden biologist Monica Chege. A uniform approach is therefore insufficient. "Effective conservation only works when management is tailored to local conditions and developed with and around local communities."
