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Top headlines
Lead story
When a military jet bombs an urban building, the damage goes far beyond the concrete and steel structure. The explosion kicks up toxic debris, which people on the streets will breathe deep into their lungs. If it starts a fire, particularly when an oil refinery or depot burns, the black smoke can spread harmful chemicals over many miles, reaching farm fields, waterways and other communities.
“A disaster’s effects on air quality and public health depend in large part on what is being destroyed,” writes Armin Sorooshian, a chemical and environmental engineer who studies air pollution and how particles behave in the air.
In our lead story today, he breaks down some of the airborne health threats facing people in Tehran, Beirut and other cities that are being attacked by the U.S., Israel or Iran as the war rages on. Air quality and health research from past wars and disasters offer insight into what people trapped in war zones are breathing today.
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Stacy Morford
Senior Environment, Climate and Energy Editor
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A woman sifts through the rubble in her home after it was damaged by a missile on March 15, 2026, in Tehran.
Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
Armin Sorooshian, University of Arizona
The damage from military attacks on cities can fill the air with pollutants that harm the lungs and stress the heart.
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Arts + Culture
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Gayle Rogers, University of Pittsburgh
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Environment + Energy
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Matthew Bunn, Harvard Kennedy School
The war in Iran has cut off diplomatic efforts to limit the country’s development of nuclear weapons. Securing that material and equipment in other ways would be difficult and dangerous.
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William J. (Bill) Kovarik, Radford University
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Science + Technology
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J. Carson Meredith, Georgia Institute of Technology
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Dannell D. Boatman, West Virginia University
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Health + Medicine
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David Kroll, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
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Leanne Snyder, Loyola University Chicago
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Economy + Business
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Jon Bergdoll, Indiana University; Patrick Rooney, Indiana University
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Politics + Society
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Cian T. McMahon, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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Paula Kane, University of Pittsburgh
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