Science

"The Environmental Protection Agency was justified in intervening to examine possible risks of gas drilling to Texas drinking water, the agency's internal watchdog reported Tuesday. But environmentalists say the report raises fresh concerns about the EPA's 2012 decision to halt its investigation into possible well water contamination in Parker County, Texas."

"The EPA Inspector General's report is the latest analysis to spotlight the regulator's handling of high-profile cases of alleged drinking-water contamination near natural gas drilling sites.

"Researchers say they have discovered a large reservoir of melt water that sits under the Greenland ice sheet all year round."

"If you’ve been paying any attention at all to the ongoing noise about global warming, then you’ve heard of the so-called 'pause'. This is the idea that the planet hasn’t actually been warming for the past 15 years or so."

"The hole in the ozone layer is stabilizing but will take until about 2070 to fully recover, according to new research by NASA scientists."

The Obama White House announced that newly appointed Keystone XL opponent John Podesta would recuse himself from any decisions about the controversial pipeline. But documents have shown that ERM, the company that produced a favorable report on the pipeline for the State Department, had serious conflicts of interest, which were hidden by both ERM and the State Department.

"A scientist whose observations of drowned polar bears raised alarms about climate change has received $100,000 to settle a whistle-blower complaint against an agency of the Department of the Interior."

"The publisher of a controversial and much-criticized study suggesting genetically modified corn caused tumors in rats has withdrawn the paper after a year-long investigation found it did not meet scientific standards."

"We've heard that climate change likely played a very minor role in the havoc that typhoon Haiyan wrought on the Philippines."