Air

"The world will not forgive leaders gathered in Rwanda this week if they fail to back a proposed agreement to cut greenhouse gases, a top U.N. official said on Thursday, calling the deal an easy one to achieve."

"The amount of methane in the atmosphere is growing, but it’s not coming from where you think. While methane from fracking and other fossil-fuel activity hasn’t increased over the last 10 years, agriculture, landfills, and wetlands are getting gassier, according to a new study in Nature."

"A trace of graphite is in consumer tech. In these Chinese villages, it’s everywhere."

"Volkswagen has agreed to pay its U.S. dealers up to $1.2 billion to compensate them for losses suffered as a result of the company's emissions cheating scandal, according to a settlement agreement filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco."

"Some 92% of the population live in places where air pollution exceeds WHO limits, which can contribute to lung cancer, heart disease, and strokes."

"A loose coalition of more than 100 countries, including the US and European nations, is pushing for an early phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a powerful greenhouse gas that if left unchecked is set to add a potentially disastrous 0.5C to global temperatures by the end of the century."

"Chemical manufacturing giant Dow fails to warn people in farming communities throughout California when a potentially dangerous pesticide is applied to nearby fields, health advocates claimed in a lawsuit filed Tuesday."

"Meet U.S. EPA's new standards for airborne lead, which are the same as the agency's existing standards for the toxic metal."

"U.S. EPA [Monday] released the final version of closely watched guidelines intended to make it easier for states to get a pass on air pollution violations outside their control because of 'exceptional events.'"

"Indonesian forest fires that choked a swath of Southeast Asia with a smoky haze for weeks last year may have caused more than 100,000 deaths, according to new research that will add to pressure on Indonesia's government to tackle the annual crisis."