Meat has earned a bad reputation as an environmentally damaging food, in part because beef production is known to emit 20 times more greenhouse gases than bean production for the same protein benefit. But is meat getting too much of the blame? A Japan-based study, widely regarded as reflective of most wealthy nations, found that the consumption of sweets, alcohol and restaurant food adds to families’ carbon footprints in a larger capacity than other food and drink choices. This evidence from...

Obesity is complicating the climate-change fight, researchers say, especially as the Earth’s population adds roughly 83 million people of all shapes and sizes every year. A combination of higher metabolism leading to more carbon dioxide, an additional increase in carbon-dioxide emissions from greater food and drink consumption and the extra output of emissions from fossil fuel-powered transportation, obesity is associated with approximately 20% more greenhouse gas emissions compared to people...

Where a kid grows up — as specific as the streets they play on and as broad as the country their emigrating parents choose — can set the course for upward mobility the rest of their life, beyond what just “a little hard work” can create. That means, says research economist Raj Chetty, that the so-called American Dream, earning more than and enjoying greater opportunities than one’s parents, isn’t so American any more, at least without a degree of intervention. ‘If you were an immigrant...

Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the average size of the Lone Star state’s car and truck loans. In fact, southern states lead those with the heaviest auto-debt burden, claiming four of the top five spots and led by Texas at an average balance of $6,700. The northeastern U.S., plus Michigan, tend to carry the lowest auto-debt balances, led by the District of Columbia at an average of $3,000. Here’s a look at the most-indebted states, at least when it comes to vehicles, via How Much,...

A dangerous fungus known as Candida auris has cropped up simultaneously in far corners of the world — atypical behavior for a fungus, which usually radiates from one location. That development, and signs of the pathogen’s unusual tolerance of heat in those areas, leads a group of scientists to theorize that global warming is in part responsible for the recurrence of the drug-resistant fungus that poses the biggest risks for already sick hospital patients or older residents in long-term care...