Air pollution harms the health of everyone exposed to it, but a new study says communities of color are disproportionately harmed by dirty air.

Smog causes nearly 8 times higher childhood asthma rates and 1.3 times higher risk of premature death among minority communities compared to white communities, researchers found.

These elevated risks are a matter of geography, said study co-...

People exposed to high levels of traffic-related air pollution are more likely to have more amyloid plaques in their brain, a condition associated with Alzheimer's disease, a new study finds.

Seniors were nearly twice as likely to have more amyloid plaques if, in the year before their death, they lived in places with high concentrations of particle pollution caused by traffic, results sho...

If all cars and trucks sold in America were "zero emission" by 2040 and the country's electric grid was also powered by clean energy, nearly 2.8 million child asthma attacks would be prevented annually, a new report finds.

The American Lung Association (ALA) report also estimates that with cleaner air, 508 infant lives ...

Nearly 15% of Americans still deny that climate change is real, according to a new national assessment from the University of Michigan.

Evidence of climate change has been mounting, including science which has shown that climate-related natural disasters are growing in frequency and intensity sooner than originally predicted, researchers said.

Nevertheless, climate change is still n...

Few can forget the haunting images of New York City bathed in a thick orange smog after smoke from Canadian wildfires swept southward last summer.

Now, a new report from the First Street Foundation suggests these alarming effects of climate change are becoming far more common, wit...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it is cracking down on air pollution.

Specifically, the agency introduced a tougher air quality standard that takes aim at fine particulate matter -- the tiny bits of pollution that can penetrate the lungs -- by lowering the allowable annual concentration of the deadly pollutant that each state can have.

"This final air qua...

Deaths related to ozone air pollution will rise significantly around the world during the next two decades due to climate change, a new study warns.

Cities in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa can expect to see ozone-related deaths increase by as many as 6,200 fatalities a year by 2054 unless humans rein in global warming, researchers project.

"This paper is further ...

An American's income and ethnicity could play a role in how clean the air is that they breathe, a new study finds.

Air pollution emissions have fallen more in wealthier areas, and less in areas with larger Hispanic or American Indian populations.

Overall, U.S. air pollution emissions have decreased substantially, but the magnitude of the change varies based on demographics, the rese...

Unhealthy air from wildfires is causing hundreds of additional deaths in the western United States every year, a new study claims.

Wildfires have undercut progress made in cleaning America's air, and between 2000 and 2020 caused an increase of 670 premature deaths each year in the West, researchers report Dec. 4 in The Lancet Planetary Health journal.

"Our air is supposed t...

It's not just bumper-to-bumper highway traffic that's causing your blood pressure to spike during your daily commute.

New research shows that the exhaust fumes spewing from all those vehicles triggers a significant increase in car passengers' blood pressure.

The observed increase is comparable to the effect of a high-salt diet, researchers found, and the effect can last up to 24 hou...

When it comes to the ultra-fine particles you may breathe in from polluted air, all is not created equal as it affects your health.

Fine particle pollutants known PM2.5 -- particles that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter -- appear to double the risk for premature death over time if they originate from coal-fired power plants versus other sources, a