Natural Resources

"Quiet, Gordon Hempton says, is a 'think tank of the soul.' The acoustic ecologist has criss-crossed the world searching for and recording some of nature's most elusive sounds. He says the experience of silence is in danger of being lost and explains why nature's 'silence' is vital to our minds, our relationships, and the natural world as well. He walks us through those environments — from the Hoh Rain Forest to thunder in the Kalahari Desert."

"CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. -- A pipe is spewing toxic water into Topper Run from the old Maryland No. 1 coal mine here."

"Chile's Supreme Court suspended a key permit for Canadian miner Goldcorp Inc's El Morro copper-gold project, the latest setback for the controversial project and one of the biggest legal blows to a mining project in the world's top copper producer."

"Some worry that a water-diversion deal, sending farm irrigation water to sprawling San Diego, will spell doom for the Salton Sea – and exposure to toxins for humans and wildlife. Others say protections are in place to ensure that can't happen."

"The Interior Department's inspector general appears likely to join the growing scrutiny over whether the National Park Service falsified data in an environmental review of a California oyster farm."

"We'd probably like to think that clean, safe food goes hand in hand with pristine nature, with lots of wildlife and clean water. But in the part of California that grows a lot of the country's lettuce and spinach, these two goals have come into conflict."

The release Friday of the Senate Agriculture Committee chairman's draft of a 2012 Farm Bill shifted the political fight over this major legislation into high gear. Finishing the bill by September, when the current law expires, will be a challenge, especially in an election year. The Farm Bill has many provisions that affect the environment, public health, and environmental health.

"KOMODO ISLAND, Indonesia — Coral gardens that were among Asia’s most spectacular, teeming with colorful sea life just a few months ago, have been transformed into desolate gray moonscapes by illegal fishermen who use explosives or cyanide to kill or stun their prey."

"WASHINGTON — A hunting bill passed by the House on Tuesday makes it harder to restrict hunting and fishing on public lands and ensures that the hunter's arsenal will continue to include lead bullets."