The United Nations has warned that global warming and its effects, including a rise in air and sea temperatures and extreme weather patterns, not only endanger the planet but also pose a "major threat" to human health.

A group of specialists will investigate why a federal agency is withholding a report describing potential health threats near 26 heavily polluted areas in the Great Lakes region.

A new, rapid and cheap way of estimating the potential risk posed to human health by volcanic ash has been devised by a Durham University expert.

A new University of Georgia study finds that sewage-contaminated groundwater is reaching the offshore reefs of the Upper Florida Keys, possibly threatening corals and human health.

The World Health Organization is urging greater cooperation among nations to tackle the growing number of cross-border threats to public health.

The general director of the World Health Organization says that the global community must adopt a broad approach to deal with health threats that cross borders, taking lives and damaging economies.