Choking China: The struggle to clear Beijing's air
As pollution levels return to normal in China's capital after a record-breaking month of smog, what can be done to banish the smog?
New Scientist
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Madagascar biodiversity threatened as gangs run wild
Since a military coup forced the president to resign in March, loggers and bushmeat traders have rushed to exploit the country's rich biodiversity.
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WHO fires first shots in the war on alcohol
The World Health Organization is launching the first global war against alcohol abuse. Can it replicate the success of the anti-smoking campaign? Some of the ways to curb excessive alcohol consumption are similar to those used against cigarettes, such as increasing taxes and reducing availability. (Editorial)
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WHO launches worldwide war on booze
Humanity's relationship with alcohol has never been easy. Now it is about to undergo as great a change as our attitude to tobacco, which has seen smoking plummet from the height of cool to the lowest of unpleasant habits.
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Trash trackers: The secret life of garbage
People fill their trash cans one day, and it's all gone the next
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Fair carbon means no carbon for rich countries
WHAT might a truly fair and effective solution to climate change look like?
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Antarctica's hidden plumbing revealed
The first complete map of the lakes beneath Antarctica suggests the icy continent's secret water network is more active than we thought.
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Museums are key to saving biodiversity
Natural history collections of plants and animals not only tell us about the world as it was, they can also help shape its future, says Richard Lane.
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World will 'cool for the next decade'
We could be about to enter a decade or two of cooler temperatures, says one of the world's top climate modellers. "People will say this is global warming disappearing," Mojib Latif told more than 1500 climate scientists gathered at the UN's World Climate Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, last week. "I am not one of the sceptics.
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Climate change: no Eden, no apocalypse
Rather than placing ourselves in a "fight" against climate change, or lament a lost Eden, we should take the chance to rethink how we live, says Mike Hulme.
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Geoengineering is no longer unmentionable
Most people and nations now recognise the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid dangerous climate change. However, there is a growing fear that this fragile support for action could be at risk because geoengineering - the large-scale manipulation of the environment to counteract climate change - is now receiving serious attention from scientists, policy-makers and the media.