U.S. cities burn recyclables after China bans imports – Residents fear rise in pollution from incinerators

By Oliver Milman 21 February 2019 (The Guardian) – The conscientious citizens of Philadelphia continue to put their pizza boxes, plastic bottles, yoghurt containers and other items into recycling bins. But in the past three months, half of these recyclables have been loaded on to trucks, taken to a hulking incineration facility and burned, according […]

How “completely avoidable” measles cases continue to climb – 4 new suspected cases in Washington state – “This is a public health problem for which science has already provided a solution”

By Lauran Neergaard 27 February 2019 WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. has counted more measles cases in the first two months of this year than in all of 2017 — and part of the rising threat is misinformation that makes some parents balk at a crucial vaccine, federal health officials told Congress Wednesday. Yet the […]

The unique dangers of the Washington state measles outbreak – “It will take off like a wildfire”

By Lena H. Sun and Maureen O’Hagan 6 February 2019 VANCOUVER, Washington (The Washington Post) – Amber Gorrow is afraid to leave her house with her infant son because she lives at the epicenter of Washington state’s worst measles outbreak in more than two decades. Born eight weeks ago, Leon is too young to get […]

The anti-vaxx movement is a worldwide pandemic – “Parents need to understand that vaccines save lives”

By The Times Editorial Board 6 February 2019 (Los Angeles Times) – It’s not quite six weeks into 2019, and it’s already looking like it will be another banner year for measles in the United States. An outbreak in the Pacific Northwest that began in late January continues to spread, with more than 50 cases […]

America conquest cooled Earth’s climate – The Great Dying of the indigenous peoples of the Americas contributed to the Little Ice Age

By Jonathan Amos 31 January 2019 (BBC News) – Colonisation of the Americas at the end of the 15th Century killed so many people, it disturbed Earth’s climate. That’s the conclusion of scientists from University College London, UK. The team says the disruption that followed European settlement led to a huge swathe of abandoned agricultural […]

Public health emergency declared over measles in anti-vax hotspot near Portland, Oregon

23 January 2019 (CBS News) – A public health emergency has been declared in Clark County, Washington, as a result of an ongoing measles outbreak. According to the latest update from the county’s Department of Health, 23 cases of measles have been confirmed and health officials are investigating two more suspected cases. The majority of […]

Davos climate obsessions contain clues for policymaking – The environment has replaced the economy and finance on the global elite’s worry list

By Gillian Tett17 January 2019 (Financial Times) – What are the biggest risks stalking the world today? A cynic might gripe that the list is so depressingly long that it is pointless even to try to choose: populism, cyber attacks, trade wars, weather shocks and global debt are all on the rise. However, during the […]

Landmark study finds more than 1.2 million deaths in 2017 due to air pollution in India – Uttar Pradesh recorded 260,028 deaths attributable to air pollution

NEW DELHI, 6 December 2018 (Press Trust of India) – One in eight deaths in India last year was attributable to air pollution, which contributes to more disease burden than tobacco use, a study said Thursday while asserting the highest exposure to ultra-fine particulate matter, PM2.5, was in Delhi followed by Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. […]

Vanishing nutrients: 2 billion people worldwide suffer from “hidden hunger,” in which people are malnourished even though they consume enough calories

By Elena Suglia 10 December 2018 (Scientific American) – Is it possible to starve yourself of nutrients while simultaneously gaining weight? It turns out the answer is yes. According to a growing body of research, rising carbon dioxide levels are making our food less nutritious, robbing key crops of vitamins essential to human development.Studies have […]

U.S. life expectancy falls, driven by suicides and drug overdoses – First three-year period of decline since World War I

By Peter Sullivan 29 November 2018 (The Hill) – U.S. life expectancy declined in 2017 as more Americans died of drug overdoses and suicides, furthering a troubling trend of declining lifespans not seen in a century, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in a report released Thursday. Life expectancy was 78.6 years in […]

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