The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reports greenhouse gas emissions in Earth’s atmosphere have reached the highest level ever in 800,000 years. The figure was made public at the launch in Geneva of the WMO’s annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.   The report was released in advance of next week’s U.N. climate …

Once they find them, wild animals tend to stick around human neighborhoods. That’s because of the free food buffet we tend to leave lying around, in our trash and gardens. Then, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of the unwanted guests, short of killing them. That was the problem with …

At least one in 10 people globally lives near the coast in a low-lying area. As the population increases and sea level rises, their homes are increasingly being threatened. The countries with the most people at risk include the United States, China, India and Bangladesh, and Southeast Asian countries such …

The latest movie adaptation of Steven King’s terrifying book “IT” brought in a record $123 million in its opening weekend. But in real life, there’s nothing fun about being scared, so why do people flock to scary movies, and around Halloween, haunted houses and participate in other frightening activities? New …

Laws criminalizing consensual gay sex have been scrapped in about 25 countries in the last 20 years, but more than 70 nations still have such prohibitions, a U.N. expert said Friday in a first-of-its-kind report at the General Assembly.              And in many places around the world, lesbian, gay, …

The Trump administration Friday proposed new health insurance regulations that could affect basic benefits required by the Affordable Care Act, but not for a couple of years. Loosening “Obamacare” benefit requirements was a major sticking point for congressional Republicans in thus-far fruitless efforts to repeal the law. The complex new …

A major health care system serving the upper Midwest said this week that the number of opioid pills it prescribes has fallen by almost a quarter as it works to respond to America’s opioid epidemic. South Dakota-headquartered Sanford Health started analyzing its prescribing last year to direct its response to …

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday welcomed President Donald Trump’s declaration of the opioid epidemic as a public health emergency, saying he agreed with Trump that the war on addiction was “winnable.” Trump on Thursday directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to declare a 90-day public …

A Kenyan university student has won a $100,000 research grant for an idea aimed at decreasing maternal and infant deaths among cattle-raising families on the Kenya-Ethiopia border. Dahabo Adi Galgalo secured the 2017 innovation award from AESA, Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa, for designing a GPS-like device …

In 2015, 92 million Americans used prescription opioids to alleviate or manage pain, with 11.5 million reporting they misused them. Now more than ever, patients are seeking alternative treatments to avoid using potentially addictive pain pills. VOA’s Elizabeth Cherneff introduces us to a Washington doctor who is helping people manage …

Paul Coles’ journey to becoming one of the 2.5 million Americans addicted to prescription opioids began with painkillers prescribed for injuries suffered during an IED attack in Iraq. The physical scars healed, but emotionally Coles suffered. He had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and couldn’t stop using drugs.  “It got to …

American drug courts are taking a public health approach to help those addicted to prescription opioids and heroin. The goal is long-term recovery and allowing people to have their felony drug charges erased from their records if they complete the program. VOA’s Chris Simkins reports from Miami on how one …

More than 10,000 mainly Syrian refugees who escaped fighting in their country are living on five Greek islands. About 2,500 of them are crowded into camps on the island of Samos, even though there is only room for about 800. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports aid groups say there is a …

U.S. public health advocates welcomed President Donald Trump’s decision to declare the U.S. opioid epidemic a national public health emergency, but say the crisis needs additional funds to be addressed. The 90-day order enables states to use federal emergency funds to fight the crisis, but, although it can be extended, …

The World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the rate of deaths from measles has dropped 84 percent since the beginning of a global vaccination campaign in 2000. Experts say the number of people who died from measles in 2016 was about 90,000, …

What looks like clean drinking water can contain harmful chemicals, like lead, and there is no easy, reliable way to detect it. So, a young scientist invented one, in the process, winning the 2017 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. Faith Lapidus reports. …

The extent to which organ transplants can allow recipients to not only survive but thrive was on display this week at a medical conference in the U.S. A former opera singer who received a double lung transplant five years ago returned to the stage, to sing with her donor’s daughter. …

A 10-story-tall tree moved two city blocks on giant rollers last summer has new growth and appears happy in its new location, a tree expert said Wednesday. Tree mover David Cox of Environmental Design examined the 800,000-pound (363,000-kilogram) sequoia in Boise, Idaho, and pronounced the tree fit. “She looks pretty …

Spurred by the chemical industry, President Donald Trump’s administration is retreating from a congressionally mandated review of some of the most dangerous chemicals in public use: millions of tons of asbestos, flame retardants and other toxins in homes, offices and industrial plants across the United States.   Instead of following …

The United States is suffering through an unprecedented, deadly wave of opioid and prescription drug overdoses. The drug crisis comes nearly 50 years after the government declared a “War on Drugs.” VOA’s Chris Simkins looks back at the War on Drugs and how experts say mistakes of the past cannot …

Doctors in the U.S. are increasingly employing a new approach when treating tumors, thanks to the new technology of genomic sequencing. It allows them to look at each patient and his or her cancer as an individual, and develop a customized therapy. The new approach is showing some promising results. …

Doctors in the U.S. are increasingly employing a new approach when treating tumors, thanks to the new technology of genomic sequencing. It allows them to look at each patient and his or her cancer as an individual, and develop a customized therapy. The new approach is showing some promising results. …

Arctic sea ice may be thinning faster than predicted because salty snow on the surface of the ice skews the accuracy of satellite measurements, a new study from the University of Calgary said on Tuesday. The report from the Canadian university’s Cryosphere Climate Research Group published in the academic journal …

Hope is the thing with feathers, poet Emily Dickinson wrote. For Richard Thorns, the feathers are pink.   Thorns’ hope? To prove that a colorful duck is not extinct. This week, he launches a seventh expedition into the inaccessible wilds of Myanmar to search for the pink-headed duck that hasn’t …

Nearly 30 years ago, 1,000 children a day were paralyzed by the polio virus. So far this year, 11 children have been diagnosed with polio, thanks to a global effort to wipe out the polio virus. The effort has produced amazing results, but as VOA’s Carol Pearson reports, those behind …