By Olivia Rosane and Cristen Hemingway Jaynes Quick Key Facts What Is Methane? What has no color or smell and is found in wetlands, cow burps and your basement furnace? The answer is methane — a powerful greenhouse gas that is the second most important contributor to the climate crisis after […]

A new peer-reviewed study has linked pesticides as a likely cause to a mass die-off of Western monarch butterflies that occurred in 2024. In January 2024, researchers found hundreds of dead or dying monarch butterflies near the Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary in California, where Western monarch […]

In a landmark finding, the United Nations’ top court on Wednesday issued an advisory opinion stating that a “clean, healthy and sustainable environment” is a human right. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling supports the obligation of UN member states to tackle the climate crisis […]

According to new map data from Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), more than 73 million people living in the U.S. are exposed to tap water with toxic levels of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The data revealed that PFAS levels in tap water across the U.S. are higher than the […]

Extreme heat, excessive rainfall, ongoing droughts — these conditions are now considered the new normal, according to the latest State of the UK Climate report from the UK Met Office. The report highlights several alarming trends, including warming at the rate of 0.25°C per decade in the UK. The […]

Nanoplastics — microplastics that are less than a micrometer in size — are found all over the world, from Alpine peaks to the deepest parts of the ocean. At least 27 million tonnes of nanoplastics are estimated to be floating in the North Atlantic Ocean, weighing more than all wild land mammals […]

The toxic chemical diquat, an ingredient used in place of glyphosate in weedkillers in the United States, has been found to cause multiple types of damage to organs and kill gut bacteria, according to new research. Diquat is sprayed extensively on orchards and vineyards, and its use has increased […]

In the introduction to Sharon Udasin and Rachel Frazin’s new book, Poisoning The Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America, the authors cite an alarming statistic from 2015 that PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are present in the bodies of an estimated 97% of Americans. How did […]

After more than a century, a ban on swimming in the River Seine in Paris has been lifted. The river has been deemed clean and safe enough for swimming to once again be legal in this iconic waterway. According to the city’s official tourism office, 11 total swimming areas are reopening across […]

Our gut bacteria — collectively known as the “gut microbiome” — perform many important tasks in addition to the basics of breaking down food and vitamins, including supporting our immune system and brain health. Researchers from the University of Cambridge have recently identified a family […]