Background Articles

A major source of pollution comes from wood-burning stoves. Other sources are vehicle exhaust systems, power plant emissions and heating oil. The air pollution can permanently harm respiratory function and cause other health problems.

Drought, economic collapse and soaring food prices have pushed millions into hunger. Cash aid from the Disasters Emergency Committee is helping families feed their children and send them back to school

A fungus that lurks in desert soil makes thousands of Americans sick every year with a condition known as Valley Fever. Thanks to climate change, it’s spreading north.

According to a new study, thawing of permafrost due to climate change could expose the Arctic population to much greater concentrations of the invisible, lung cancer-causing gas Radon.

As health care providers, we fully and completely recognize the immediacy and urgency of the moment. We must heed the words and wise counsel of Sir David Attenborough, “The impacts of climate change will be upon us for thousands of years ... The future of humanity and, indeed, all life on Earth, now depends on us.”

Great Salt Lake is also known as America's Dead Sea -- owing to a likeness to its much smaller Middle Eastern counterpart -- but scientists worry the moniker could soon take new meaning.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists discovered how the current epizootic H5N1 avian influenza virus (bird flu) gained new genes and greater virulence as it spread west. Researchers showed that the avian virus could severely infect the brains of mammalian research models, a notable departure from previous related strains of the virus.

An assessment by geotechnical experts will need to be completed in order to know the stability of the slide and understand continuing risk.

Q fever is a febrile illness caused by infection with the bacterium Coxiella burnetii. It is most often transmitted by inhalation of the bacteria after it is shed by infected livestock. The antibody prevalence in NFS samples from 2009 and 2011 (69%) was significantly higher than in 1994 (49%). The antibody prevalence of SSL samples from 2007 to 2011 was 59%. All NFS vaginal swabs were negative for C. burnetii, despite an 80% antibody prevalence in the matched sera. The significant increase in antibody prevalence in NFS from 1994 to 2011 suggests that the pathogen may be increasingly common or that there is marked temporal variation within the vulnerable NFS population.

The National Climate Assessment was released Tuesday with details that bring climate change’s impacts down to a local level.

The Institute of Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) Tribes and Climate Change Program is publishing a report called the Status of Tribes and Climate C...

A new research project is building a timeline of mercury levels in the Aleutian Islands over the last few thousand years.

Dengue is erupting in South America — and has even found its way to the US.

The disease and virus likely exist well beyond the state’s borders, making the new name more scientifically accurate, officials say.

When Jody Potts-Joseph was growing up, her family mushed sled dogs during the harsh Alaskan winters to hunt and trap, feeding them salmon caught from the Yukon River by the thousands. But after rebuilding her sled dog team as an adult, Potts-Joseph, a member of the Han Gwich'in tribe, had to turn to store-bought dog food. The river that was once renowned for its salmon doesn't have enough to offer anymore.

Several people have drowned or been reported missing after swimming in Pacific Northwest bodies of water during the record-breaking heat wave in the past few days.

During the summer of 2006, Fairbanks Alaska experienced its first two known cases of fatal anaphylaxis as a result of Hymenoptera stings, presumably from yellowjackets. Statistically significant increases in patients seeking medical care for insect bite and sting related events are observed throughout the state, with 5 of the 6 regions experiencing at least a 6 degree Fahrenheit increase in winter temperature since 1950.

Coxiella burnetii, a zoonotic bacterium, has recently been identified in several marine mammal species on the Pacific Coast of North America, but little is known about the epidemiology, transmission, and pathogenesis in these species.