New air quality guidelines published on Wednesday by the World Health Organization could prevent millions of deaths globally each year, the UN agency said.Fine particulate matter, or PM 2.5, is the tiniest pollutant yet also among the most dangerous. When…
In his United National General Assembly debut on Tuesday, United States President Joe Biden declared a "new era" of US diplomacy, making a case for international cooperation as the world stands at an "inflection point in history."But the President's call…
One close glimpse of a modern bird, especially around the eyes, and it may feel like you're looking into the ancient past, when massive creatures walked the Earth and soared across its skies. It's because birds are dinosaurs -- they…
The Taliban have requested representation at this week's United Nations General Assembly, a move that is expected to kick off a diplomatic battle with the preexisting Afghan envoy.Afghanistan is currently represented at the UN by Ghulam Isaczai, an appointee of…
In a rare address to the UN General Assembly, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday made a major new climate commitment on behalf of the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases.China will not build any new coal-fired power projects abroad,…
The amount of carbon emitted from severe wildfires that tore across many parts of the Northern Hemisphere this summer broke records, according to data from the European Union's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service published Tuesday.Intense blazes, including fires in hotspots in…
Defined by their disappearance dinosaurs might appear to be evolutionary failures. Not so.Dinosaurs survived and thrived for 165 million years -- far longer than the roughly 300,000 years modern humans have so far roamed the planet.They lived on every continent,…
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday the world would have to wait to hear from US President Joe Biden about whether the country would pay its fair share in climate finance -- funds for undeveloped nations to face the…
As the fall season approaches and colder temperatures set in, there's a silver lining to look up to -- literally -- as the harvest moon makes its debut on September 20, bringing plenty of bright moonlight.The full moon known as…
Dinosaurs must have had sex to reproduce but how they did it -- with their neck frills, armored plates and tails tipped with spikes -- isn't exactly clear.No fossil has revealed two dinosaurs caught in the act -- the only…
In the wake of Hurricane Ida, the pummeling rain that hit cities up and down the East Coast at the start of September overwhelmed storm drains, poured into subway stations and filled basements like bathtubs. The devastating human toll is…
We live in a time bookended by extremes.Many believe our future is in space, where one day humans will live across the solar system.Looking back, we see evidence of a wild planet where giant creatures once roamed, only to fall…
Coronavirus be damned, the world's diplomats are back.New Yorkers who enjoyed the peace and quiet of the United Nations' all-virtual General Assembly last year will once again face the gridlock of diplomatic motorcades next week, as world leaders and their…
The human body was not designed to live in space, but genetic experiments on the International Space Station are preparing a biological toolkit for the future of long-term spaceflight. And some of the most groundbreaking DNA investigations taking place on…
Celebrities hit the red carpet at the Met Gala, Miley Cyrus performs with Metallica and a "megapod" of whales surfaces in Australia. These are the must-watch videos of the week.Strike a poseAfter a brief hiatus from the pandemic, this year's…
Schools are in session, Covid-19 restrictions are being relaxed en masse and the Delta variant is raging worldwide, creating a maelstrom of confusion for parents on how to best protect their unvaccinated children.Data from earlier in the pandemic showed that…
Scientists have uncovered the fossil of a bird that lived 120 million years ago, and it definitely had flair, including unusually long tail feathers. These flashy feathers probably didn't help the bird achieve aerodynamic flight, but they might have helped…
The hole in the ozone that forms every year over the South Pole is now larger than Antarctica, scientists from the European Union's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said Thursday.The ozone depletes and forms a hole over the Antarctic in the…
More than 18 months into the coronavirus pandemic, a number of countries have decided it's time to open up and adopt a "living with Covid" model.Some have enviable vaccination rates; others have decided that the costs of continued economic and…
President Joe Biden announced the United States and European Union have launched a global pledge to reduce emissions of methane -- a potent greenhouse gas -- by nearly 30% by the end of the decade.Biden made the announcement Friday morning…
