By Meg Wilcox
Vicki Blazer has studied the health of the smallmouth bass in the Chesapeake Bay watershed for more than 20 years. As a research fishery biologist for the United States Geological Survey (USGS), she keeps a close eye on pollutants and other environmental factors that could be causing diseases and die-offs plaguing the popular sportfish.
At a time when climate-related headlines often read like obituaries for our planet, Earth Day 2025 offered something rare – a reason for hope. Not the naïve optimism that suggests salvation is assured, but rather compelling evidence that we can make people act for good when we get the messaging right.
LA MOTTE, Iowa — Ray Bickel spent over a decade driving a truck through giant corn and soybean fields in Clinton County, Iowa, applying pesticides. He says it was good work, while it lasted. In 2017, he had a heart attack. The doctors ran tests to find out what caused it and found something else.
By Carey Gillam
Residents of a Michigan community whose drinking water was polluted with toxic chemicals from a long-shuttered paper mill continue to have high levels of the compounds in their bodies, even years after the community switched to alternate water supplies, according to a new study.
By Shannon Kelleher
A main ingredient in embalming fluid may be hiding in your body lotion. In an analysis of more than 1,100 products used over the course of a week by 70 Black and Latina women in South Los Angeles, over half reported using products that researchers found contained formaldehyde or preservatives that release the toxic chemical.
By Madeline Heim, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens
The Mississippi River ranks as the nation’s most endangered river as federal plans to cut flood relief programs meet with a rise in severe weather, a new report warns.
“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”
By Dr. Raphael Cuomo
Over the past several decades, cancer has been predominantly viewed as a disease of aging. Conventional wisdom suggests that the longer we live, the more opportunities our cells have to accumulate genetic mutations that can eventually lead to malignancies.
By Bill Walker
A driver entering an enclosed parking garage in California is greeted by a 20-by-20-inch sign declaring in 72-point type:
WARNING: Breathing the air in this parking garage can expose you to chemicals including carbon monoxide and gasoline or diesel engine exhaust, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
By Carey Gillam
Food companies are continuing to push unhealthy cereals high in sugar content into the diets of young children through targeted television advertising despite pledges by leading companies to voluntarily regulate such advertising, according to a new analysis.