Genetic selection could help farmers and breeders reduce greenhouse gases from crops, particularly rice cultivation, research by the University of Warwick and Cranfield University shows. 

Food systems are key drivers of the world’s most urgent challenges, from chronic diseases and rising inequality to accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss, according to the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy, Sustainable, and Just Food Systems. The new report finds that while the world produces enough food calories for everyone, nearly 3.7 billion people are without access to a healthy diet, meaningful wages, or a clean environment. At the same time, food production is a significant contributor to environmental degradation, accounting for nearly 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions and pushing the transgression of the planetary boundaries (climate change, biodiversity loss, land use change, freshwater consumption, nutrient pollution, and novel entities such as pesticides and antibiotics). This crisis of inequity and environmental harm threatens human health and the resilience of planet Earth.

A study comparing evacuation patterns in response to two 2024 hurricanes, Milton and Helene, found that people in coastal areas with frequent hurricane exposure were much more likely to travel out of harm’s way compared to people in inland areas who were more likely to stay put. Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health led the study. Their findings appear in the journal Environmental Research Letters.