The ice over the Arctic Ocean is shrinking at record rates this year, a stark signal of global warming, scientists say. How bad is it? Watch this striking animated GIF of the past few decades' of ice shrinkage from climate change blog Open Mind.
Japan’s prosecutors officially began investigating Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and its former top executives on criminal charges today in relation to the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima following last year's March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
In your ridiculous-but-not-ridiculous-because-this-is-China-we're-talking-about news of the day: the Chinese government on Tuesday told foreign embassies to stop reporting on Beijing's crappy air quality.
Discovered in Green: Wind farms are making the Earth warmer, a map of clean and dirty ground water, the coral reef is moving, and Yellowstone's super-volcano isn't all that super.
It didn't take much for Sen. Jim Inhofe's office to get an official with the Environmental Protection Agency to quit.
The Associated Press on invasive species and flooding, The Guardian on wind turbines, NPR on Indonesia's mangroves, the BBC on koalas, and The New York Times on silo trees,
TreeHugger on dying killer whales, The Associated Press on an eco-martyr, The Los Angeles Times on a polluting theme park, Fair Warning on tree poisoning and The Arizona Capitol Times on a scary new law.
Discovered in Green: Food prices will rise, the Clean Water Act is working, China's getting dirtier and a better, leafier solar panel design.
Discovered: Communication towers are slaughtering our birds, deadly fungus is killing our frogs, more extreme weather is on the way, and the oceans are dirtier than we thought.
The news from a new study on the earth's rainfall isn't the fact that global warming is making it rain more in wet areas and less in dry ones, it's how much scientists had previously underestimated that trend: By half.
The Washington Post on the president and climate change, The New York Times on 2,4-D and chicken sanctuaries, the Los Angeles Times on making organic farms efficient, and The Guardian on shrinking the world
Today, the American Lung Association released its State of the Air 2012 report, on the quality of the air in the U.S., and as these things tend to go, the good news is always tempered with some bad.
Discovered in Green: Organic farming isn't always sustainable, another thing that's hurting the honey-bees, warming oceans are melting glaciers, and some trees grow better in dirty cities.
The Guardian on Vietnam's mangroves, Salon on Mitt Romney's flip-flop on solar, Maria van der Hoeven on the state of carbon emissions, ClimateWire on diesel, and Mother Jones on rising sea levels
Discovered in Green: Small amounts of a common contaminant is spreading breast cancer, reading palm trees teaches us about plant diversity and climate change, handling bark beetles, and how to get plant's to act less defensive.
One of the key controversies around fracking is the chemical makeup of the fluid that is pumped deep into the ground to break apart rock and release natural gas. Some companies have been reluctant to disclose what's in their fracking fluid.
Until recently, the state of New York state has been a leading destination for those who wanted to poach bears and sell their parts, but thanks to a new law this year, which NPR explored on Tuesday morning, that's now illegal. Still, there's money to be made on bears.
Whether it's a post-industrial renewal project or a brand-new display of civic pride, cities across the world are erecting green projects to spruce up their metropolises.
The Washington Post on nuclear energy, The New York Times on water in San Diego, Mother Jones on motorbikes in Vietnam, Bloomberg View on factory-farm antibiotics, and the Associated Press on Chinese electric cars
Today in Green Research: Cookstoves aren't saving humanity, pollution's making us fat, climate change is going to mess with the corn market, a highly endangered plant.
It looks like we've got a new darling of green technology coming into focus for the United States and Britain: Floating wind turbines. And suddenly the business of developing those things is looking pretty lucrative.
The New York Times on Frozen Planet, The Daily Beast on climate change, The Guardian on the 2012 Olympics, The Washington Post on fish labels, and the BBC on a white orca
The polar bear has a become an (insufferably cute) symbol of global warming -- meaning we were extra keen on reading into a new study, published in Science, on the genetic origins of these Coke-drinking cuddlers, looking for insight on how climate change will affect them.
Discovered in Green: Not all glaciers are melting into oblivion, death by pollution, eating meat is good for humanity, and we need new, different pine trees.
The Washington Post on offshore drilling, The Guardian on the cost of the BP spill, Bloomberg BusinessWeek on solar cells, The New York Times on India's coal, and the Associated Press on Kenya's dairy shortage
This spring was all about the early harbingers. The abnormally warm weather, the insects, and the March 20 cherry blossoms all came before expected to remind us the world was getting warmer, especially the Northeast.
First proposed in July 2011, the final rules have been welcomed by environmental groups as a much-needed initial move in reducing pollution and protecting public health from the toxic chemicals involved in the oil and natural gas drilling process. But many cautioned it was just a first step.
Discovered in Green: The jellyfish are multiplying, rivers might be a good place to get electric power, hydroelectric dams aren't so good for the environment, and bird poop proves DDT hurt bird population.
The Nation on the health toll of the oil spill, USA Today on the EPA's failure with smelting, Mother Jones on seabirds, and The New York Times on greening Europe and reading Thoreau
Natural gas companies can keep drilling per usual, say the Environmental Protection Agency's new rules for hydraulic fracturing or, as everybody who's not a government employee refers to it, "fracking."
Four environmental groups simultaneously endorsed Barack Obama for president on Wednesday because what, were they going to go for Romney?
Discovered in Green: A cheap and easy way to clean water, lead dust turns children into violent adults, glowing fish, and a way to recoop wasted energy.
Bronchitis, wheezing, possibly cancer and irreparable damage to the lungs of of displaced Katrina victims will cost the people who manufactured FEMA's temporary trailers $14.8 million.
The New York Times on food deserts and global warming, Al Jazeera on the Gulf's mutated shrimp, The Washington Post on America's waning love of gas, and the Los Angeles Times on the future of nuclear in Japan
Down along the Gulf coast, the beaches look cleaner, the birds less tar-covered, but the longterm consequences of the BP oil spill are leaving their mark under the ocean's surface.
Hollywood celebrities love the environment almost as much as they love alternative sources of income.
Discovered in Green: Greeland is sliding away, pollen is taking over Europe, Cleaner diesel technologies are working, and there's a global nomadism revolution.
Greenpeace isn't pulling any punches with its annual report on Internet companies and their energy consumption.
In remarks that sounded tailored to annoy the "drill, baby, drill" crowd, President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that no amount of domestic production would wean America off foreign oil, but that avoiding another Enron-like situation would.
Scientific American on predicting tornadoes and hurricanes, Time on climate change and natural disasters, The New York Times on a Hawaiian nature preserve, Tara Parker-Pope on going vegan, and Mother Jones on the BP oil still out there
America's plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions was going so well… until the economy turned around. The Environmental Protection Agency broke the bad news in its greenhouse gas inventory report for 1990 through 2010.
Discovered in Green: A bunch of penguins, a better, faster, better artificial photosynthesis process, Indian food as heart medicine and better solar cells in the distant, distant future.
Want another sign that this winter was more like a spring and this spring is more like a summer? Just look at the Boston Marathon, a usually great sporting tradition in the great sports town, made slightly less great this year when only 22,426 of the 26,716 registered runners showed up for the sweltering race today.
The Associated Press on soldiers in the melting Arctic, The Texas Tribune on uranium mining, Christian Science Monitor on solar panels in Germany, The Washington Post on saving the seahorse, and The Guardian on the drought in England
How do you make every antarctic explorer before you grind his or her teeth with chilly frustration: Discover something major while just looking at satellite photos of the frozen continent and not actually going there.
Discovered in Green: The effects of nuclear fallout on bird sex, cars powered by the human bowels (sort of), how your meat-eating habits are destroying the earth and a sad story about oysters.
James E. McWilliams on sustainable meat, The Guardian on the DMZ in Korea, The New York Times on solar energy, ClimateWire on the Mississippi Delta, and National Geographic on India's rickshaws
In your potentially troubling environmental news of the day, there are only two states in the U.S. that aren't experiencing "abnormally dry" or drought conditions, meaning that the country is the driest its been since 2007.
NPR on wastewater and earthquakes, The Guardian on birds and windmills, Good on agribusiness, The New York Times on trees, and Courthouse News on tiger salamanders.
Discovered in Green: The most amazing algae you've ever seen, unintended consequences of the otherwise environmentally friendly ethanol, building greener cities, and the link between pesticides and autism.
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