In January 2013, representatives of some 140 nations met in Geneva to finish a treaty to minimize emissions of mercury. In the end, they gave an exemption to the use of a mercury compound, thimerosol, as a preservative in some children's vaccines.
"A potentially deadly heat wave is expected to bear down on some Arizona and California desert areas in the next few days, forecasters said on Wednesday."
"Every year, people add 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the air, mostly by burning fossil fuels. That's contributing to climate change. A few scientists have been dreaming about ways to pull some of that CO2 out of the air, but face stiff skepticism and major hurdles. This is the story of one scientist who's pressing ahead."
"[Tuesday's] Supreme Court decision significantly expanding the rights of property owners to challenge the terms of land-use permits has puzzled environmental law experts and has liberal groups accusing the conservative justices of judicial activism."
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that current testing of hormone-altering chemicals is adequate for detecting low-dose effects that may jeopardize health."
"A tiny wedge of land jammed between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean sea, the Gaza Strip is heading inexorably into a water crisis that the United Nations says could make the Palestinian enclave unliveable in just a few years."
"Detectable levels of a large number of environmental chemicals have been found in the cord blood of some newborns, raising concerns that Canadian children already carry toxins in their bodies at birth, a report says."
"Following the recent federal decision to list captive chimpanzees as an endangered species, the National Institutes of Health announced Wednesday it would retire the majority of the approximately 360 government-owned chimpanzees currently held in laboratories."
"Thunderstorms that brought significant rainfall to the northern U.S. Midwest early this week, accompanied by warm temperatures, bolstered growth prospects for recently planted corn and soybean crops, an agricultural meteorologist said on Wednesday."
"COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Federal environmental regulators are investigating a January chemical emergency at an Ohio oil well and asking why an inventory of the facility's chemicals wasn't available to local authorities, according to a letter released Wednesday by a coalition of activists."
