Bali once had a reputation as a tropical idyll. But the unfettered expansion of mass tourism on the island has created mountains of trash, overwhelming the ability of the Balinese, who traditionally wrapped and served food in palm leaves or other biodegradable plant material, to manage the mess. Plastic and other waste has simply been dumped or burned.

A Harvard University study supports what many public health specialists have long assumed: Hard plastic drinking bottles containing bisphenol A are leaching notable amounts of the controversial chemical into people's bodies.

China will ban smoking in all hospitals and medical facilities beginning in 2011, the Health Ministry said Friday.
China is the world's largest cigarette producer, and the Chinese represent a growing market of about 320 million, making it the focus of international health concerns.

A dam-building spree in China poses the greatest threat to the future of the already beleaguered Mekong, one of the world's major rivers and a key source of water for the region, a U.N. report said Thursday.

SAS pilots and ground controllers in Stockholm have for years tested a new way of landing their aircraft that not only saves fuel but gives a more comfortable descent. With the "green approach," pilots take the shortest possible flight path between takeoff and landing. When they are ready to descend, they glide smoothly from cruising altitude all the way to the runway with engines idling.

Green initiatives in the air and on the ground can make a big difference in reducing an airline's environmental impact

President Obama will announce tough new nationwide rules for automobile emissions and mileage standards on Tuesday, embracing standards that California has sought to enact for years over the objections of the auto industry and the Bush administration.

Japan confirmed dozens more swine flu cases overnight, bringing its tally to 176, health officials said Tuesday, as the government considered scaling down quarantine checks at airports while focusing on its domestic outbreak.

The top technology university in South Korea has developed a plan to power electric cars through recharging strips embedded in roadways that use a technology to transfer energy found in some electric toothbrushes.

Japan confirmed 27 more human cases of HlNl influenza on Sunday, bringing the country's total to 32 and leading to school closures in affected areas.
In Beijing, officials confirmed the third case in mainland China on Saturday. Hong Kong also confirmed its third case on Sunday.