Cholera is on the rise globally, especially epidemic cholera which is characterized by intermittent and unpredictable outbreaks that punctuate periods of regional disease fade-out. These epidemic dynamics remain however poorly understood. Here we examine records for epidemic cholera over both contemporary and historical timelines, from Africa (1990-2006) and former British India (1882-1939). We...

It has been proposed that extensive wildfires occurred after the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) impact event. An abundance of soot and pyrosynthetic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pPAHs) in marine K-T boundary impact rocks (BIRs) have been considered support for this hypothesis. However, nonmarine K-T BIRs, from across North America, contain only rare occurrences of charcoal yet abundant noncharr...

U.S. Forest Service Examines Fire Retardant Policy As fire season in the western United States peaks, the U.S. Forest Service is incorporating public comments into a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) published earlier this year.1 The DEIS was developed in response to a July 2010 ruling by Montana’s Federal District Court that U.S. Forest Service protocols for aerial application of fir...