Terminating climate change
In a snub to President Bush, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and British prime minister Tony Blair signed a pact on 31 July to explore ways combat global warming. They agreed on further help for research on cleaner-burning fuels and exploring market-led ways to curb greenhouse emissions.
Breathless after 9/11
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Firefighters and emergency workers exposed to dust from the collapsed World Trade Center experienced a decrease in lung function equivalent to 12 years鈥� age-related decline in the year following the disaster, according to a study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. It says they should now be monitored to establish if they are at increased risk of developing lung problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Morning-after U-turn
Adults in the US may soon be able to buy the morning-after pill without a prescription. The Food and Drug Administration announced on Monday that it will review an application from Barr Pharmaceuticals to let those over 18 buy the drug over the counter. It had rejected a previous such proposal.
Bird-friendly wind farming
Research by the UK鈥檚 Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust shows that areas selected as sites for possible wind farms harbour greater numbers of seabirds and a higher diversity of species than previously believed. WWT鈥檚 findings will be used to select better sites for wind farms, which can kill birds when they fly into turbine blades.
Lebanese oil slick
An oil slick caused by Israeli bombing of the Jiyyeh power station in Lebanon now covers 80 kilometres of coast. The spill may eventually release almost as much oil as that lost by the Exxon Valdez tanker in 1989, and the United Nations Environment Programme says the oil threatens both Mediterranean wildlife and people鈥檚 livelihoods.