Kent Harries is bouncing around in a Jeep in the remote Darjeeling region of India when suddenly his life flashes before his eyes. A large military truck is coming the other way down the one-lane road, and he knows it’s not getting out of the way. He and student Derek Mitch hang on as the Jeep driver veers out of the truck’s path, narrowly averting disaster. More > (PDF p. 7)

At a Sasol research facility in South Africa, Badie Morsi watches coal travel down a conveyor belt on its way to becoming diesel fuel and sees the future.

Morsi dreams of a day when the United States — and Western Pennsylvania — won’t have to import oil but can use reactors similar to the one at the Sasol facility to make it. More > (PDF p. 7)

In biodiversity hot spots like tropical rainforests, a dearth of pollinators could be putting many species at risk of extinction, according to a new study that includes three Pitt researchers. The finding is raising concerns that more may need to be done to protect the Earth’s most biologically rich areas. More >

Extreme poverty—defined as lacking access to adequate nutrition, clean drinking water, safe shelter, and basic health care—kills 20,000 people every day, noted Siddharth Chandra during a GSPIA forum titled “Environmental Threats to Human Security: Problems and Policy.” Poverty, Chandra pointed out, is tied to environmental degradation. More >

As amphibians continue to mysteriously disappear worldwide, a Pitt researcher may have found more pieces of the puzzle. More >

The herbicide “Roundup” is widely used to eradicate weeds. But a new study by a Pitt researcher finds that the chemical may be eradicating much more than that. More >

On Tuesday, March 15, the Environmental Protection Agency issued the Clean Air Mercury Rule, the first-ever regulation to permanently cap and reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants. The next day, at the 229th American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Diego, Pitt researchers presented a new method of cleaning up such emissions, using a common industrial waste product as a resource. More >

“HIV. SARS. West Nile. Mad Cow. More to come…” So began a chilling presentation on environmental change and emerging infectious diseases by Pitt Professor Robbie Ali during a panel discussion, “The Lab: Emerging Issues,” at the Society for Environmental Journalists conference in Pittsburgh. More >

Automobiles as we know them are almost out of gas. Engines that burn gasoline emit pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, that cause global warming. And we’re running out of gasoline itself; Americans already import over half the oil they consume, weakening energy security. More >