"The world is close to reaching tipping points that will make it irreversibly hotter, making this decade critical in efforts to contain global warming, scientists warned on Monday."
"The Environmental Protection Agency will issue the first limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants as early as Tuesday, according to several people briefed on the proposal. The move could end the construction of conventional coal-fired facilities in the United States.
"Extreme weather events over the past decade have increased and were 'very likely' caused by manmade global warming, a study in the journal Nature Climate Change said on Sunday."
"A federal judge in Mississippi has ended a long-running suit that attempted to hold a selection of U.S. utilities and coal and oil companies responsible for flooding damage caused by Hurricane Katrina."
"Fresh water supplies are unlikely to keep up with global demand by 2040, increasing political instability, hobbling economic growth and endangering world food markets, according to a U.S. intelligence assessment released on Thursday."
"ROBERT LEE, Texas -- All the cars in this town are dirty. Gripped by drought, the lake that has provided the town's only source of water has just about dried up -- as of last month, it was less than 1 percent full. And as a result, residents are prohibited from using water to wash cars, water trees and lawns and irrigate plants."
"A severe drought in Mexico that has cost farmers more than a billion dollars in crop losses alone and set back the national cattle herd for years, is just a foretaste of the drier future facing Latin America's second largest economy."
"Fearing numerous villages may be at risk of toxic releases as landfills erode and thawing permafrost undercuts tank farms, state environmental managers have embarked on a massive effort to address the growing potential for pollution faced by some 100 communities across Alaska."
This year's mild winter in much of the U.S. has meant a longer tick season. That has meant more contact between ticks and mammals like humans and dogs -- and more tick bites. It is still too early to be sure what this will mean for tick populations or the prevalence of tick-borne disease in the coming year.
