As nights warm, study flags possible prenatal link to autism risk
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 18-Jun-2026 01:16 ET (18-Jun-2026 05:16 GMT/UTC)
Children of mothers exposed to higher than typical nighttime temperatures during weeks 1-10 of pregnancy had a 15% higher risk of being diagnosed with autism. Exposure during weeks 30-37 was associated with a 13% higher risk. The findings add to a growing body of research exploring how environmental factors — including air pollution and wildfire smoke — may influence fetal neurodevelopment, and as global temperatures rise, this study is the first to examine how temperature can impact that development.
Ambitious climate action to improve global air quality could save up to 1.32 million lives per year by 2040, according to a new study.
The research, led by Cardiff University, shows how developing countries rely heavily on international cooperation to see these benefits, because much of their pollution originates outside their borders.
The first-of-its-kind study analysed these cross-border pollution “exchanges” for nearly every country – 168 in total.
A new IIASA-led study examines growing critiques of how global climate mitigation scenarios address equity and justice and identifies key conditions for fair, feasible, and politically credible climate action.
UK winters are becoming significantly wetter mainly due to warming driven by human burning of fossil fuels releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, a Newcastle University study reveals.
The tide has turned on the conservation success story of the southern right whale.
Once considered a global conservation success story, the species is now emerging as a warning signal of how climate change is impacting threatened marine life, according to new research led by scientists from Flinders University and Curtin University with international collaborators in the US and South Africa.