In their article, "Perceptions of Climate Change: The New Climate Dice," Hansen and his coauthors ask an important question: If we want to identify changes in the world’s climate, what do we compare current temperatures against? Read more »
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These days, global warming makes spring come earlier and fall later and the period in between to be hotter; summer-like conditions are protracted. For this reason, in his recent article, "Perceptions of Climate Change: The New Climate Dice," global warming expert James Hansen focuses on changes in summer temperatures. Read more »

National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s James Hansen is one of the world’s leading experts on climate change. In 1988 he spoke before Congress and, as one of the first scientists ever to do so, brought the issue of climate change to the attention of a broad audience. Read more »

Last week I wrote about the legislative hearing in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee of the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011. At the hearing, Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) said that he would be calling for a committee vote in the near future. Read more »
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We are really making progress on toxics policy. This week, the Senate Environment and Public Works committee held a legislative hearing on the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 (S. 847), introduced last spring by Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ). Read more »
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The PSR community has lost a pioneer, a champion, and an outstanding colleague in the field of climate change and public health. Paul Epstein, MD MPH, co-founder and co-director of Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, died early this week. Read more »
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One last thought on last Sunday’s White House demonstration against the Keystone XL pipeline. It has to do with the missing generation. Read more »

Yesterday I wrote about the speakers who addressed the Keystone protesters at the White House. Today I’d like to talk about the protesters – specifically, the young people and the growing “Occupy Wall Street” movement. Read more »
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As I wrote yesterday, Sunday’s rally to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline was a powerful experience. Part of the impact came from the array of speakers. Read more »
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A multi-state delegation of PSR representatives joined 12,000 other like-minded people on Sunday to link arms around the White House and send President Obama an urgent message: Don’t build the Keystone XL pipeline. Read more »
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Chances are that if you are living in the United States right now, you are experiencing sweltering heat. Read more »

Picture a Hollywood theater with limos, paparazzi, primping, and acceptance speeches. But instead of honoring Hollywood’s stars and starlets, the Toxies awards honored “bad actor” chemicals in a satiric red-carpet awards show hosted by PSR-LA. Read more »

Iowa PSR recently sponsored a workshop on the interconnections between militarism, climate and environmental degradation from a health and human rights perspective. Read more »

Nearly half of Americans live an area which is heavily polluted, the American Lung Association stated in their annual State of the Air Report released last week. What does this mean? The roughly 157 million people living in these areas are placed at a high risk for asthma, respiratory disease and premature death. Most cities have shown improvement from last year’s report, but how much of an improvement is it if nearly half of us are living in air that is harming our health? Read more »

The National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures was initiated by the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in June 2009 to make a plan to better protect the public from harmful chemicals. Read more »
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The signing of the proposed Mercury & Air Toxic Standard is a long overdue victory for American public health. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson articulated that this is the initiation of an effort that will, “Save lives, prevent illnesses, and provide economic opportunities.” Read more »

A recent report estimates that coal’s impacts – including its effects on health and the damage in inflicts on the environment -- cost the U.S. about $345 billion annually. According to the report, a full rendering of coal’s costs would double to triple the price of coal-generated electricity. Read more »

My name is Martin Donohoe and I practice internal medicine, teach courses in public health, medical humanities, and women’s rights, and work with a number of activist groups on issues relevant to universal health care, food safety, and environmental preservation. Read more »

Last week we posted essays to the Environmental Health Policy Institute addressing the question: “How does our food production system drive our exposure to toxic chemicals?” Read more »

Last week, in a small Senate hearing room packed standing-room-only with spectators, Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey opened a session on reforming the outdated, 36-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA, or “Tosca”). Read more »