The Lancet: Fossil Fuels Are Killing Us… Quitting Them Can Save Us – Jon Queally

The bad news is very bad, indeed. But first, the good news: “Responding to climate change could be the biggest global health opportunity of this century.” That message is the silver lining contained in a comprehensive newly published report by The Lancet, the UK-based medical journal, which explores the complex intersection between global human health and climate change. “It took on entrenched interests …

Why climate change is increasingly seen as an urgent health issue – Julia Belluz

When people think about health, they generally think about things individuals can do to ward off disease — seeing a doctor, taking medicine, or dieting. But increasingly, many health experts think this mindset needs to change. When we think about health, they say, we need to start thinking about how environmental factors can matter as much as — maybe even …

Early men and women were equal, say scientists – Hannah Devlin

Our prehistoric forebears are often portrayed as spear-wielding savages, but the earliest human societies are likely to have been founded on enlightened egalitarian principles, according to scientists. A study has shown that in contemporary hunter-gatherer tribes, men and women tend to have equal influence on where their group lives and who they live with. The findings challenge the idea that …

Earth at risk in new epoch ruled by destructive humans

Scientists warn that our fate is in our own hands as humans now control almost every aspect of the planet, on a scale akin to the great forces of nature. Nature has been replaced by humans as the driving force behind changes on the planet − and we need to take urgent action if we are to avoid our own …

Epoch-defining study pinpoints when humans came to dominate planet Earth

The human-dominated geological epoch known as the Anthropocene probably began around the year 1610, with an unusual drop in atmospheric carbon dioxide and the irreversible exchange of species between the New and Old Worlds, according to new research published in Nature. Previous epochs began and ended due to factors including meteorite strikes, sustained volcanic eruptions and the shifting of the …