"Smoke from wildfires has worsened over the past decade, potentially reversing decades of improvements in Western air quality made under the Clean Air Act, according to research published Thursday from Stanford University."
"Biosecurity advisers to the federal government are calling for tighter scrutiny of experiments with potentially dangerous viruses and other pathogens, reflecting an ongoing debate within the scientific community over the benefits and risks of such laboratory research."
"One in 20 tap water tests performed for thousands of Chicago residents found lead, a neurotoxin, at or above US government limits, according to a Guardian analysis of a City of Chicago data trove."
"States are continuing to allow sewage sludge to be spread on cropland as fertilizer and in some cases increasing the amount spread, even as the PFAS-tainted substance has ruined farmers’ livelihoods, poisoned water supplies, contaminated food and put the public’s health at risk."
"The vast majority of Puerto Rican homes have been plunged into darkness after Hurricane Fiona wiped out the power grid, but people on the island are facing another devastating emergency: How to access clean water?"
"A new report points to a chemical explosion in Louisiana this year as a prime example of why the federal government should toughen national safety standards at petrochemical plants."
"Garnett Querta slips on his work gloves as he shifts the big rig he’s driving into park. Within seconds, he unrolls a fire hose and opens a hydrant, sending water flowing into one of the plastic tanks on the truck’s flat bed."
"Kevin Ferrara spent his career working around a wispy white chemical foam that could douse the hottest jet-fuel fires he fought, and was still considered harmless."
How water moves through the global ecosystem and shapes our landscapes is the subject of a must-read new book by writer Erica Gies, according to BookShelf editor Tom Henry. A significant part of water’s story is how humanity invariably fails when trying to manipulate it. But hope may reside with Gies’ various “water detectives,” who explore how to “let water go where it wants to go.”
Carbon dioxide may get more attention, but the second-most damaging greenhouse gas, methane, is now the focus of a global pledge to cut emissions 30% by 2030. As part of a Society of Environmental Journalists publishing project focused on covering climate solutions, we take a closer look at methane with energy reporter Nushin Huq. A primer on the climate-related problems of methane and the promise of methane-based solutions. Plus, watch a recent SEJ methane solutions webinar and see our Methane and Climate Change Toolbox.
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