Public

"A file cabinet at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland holds some of the center’s six million bird-migration observation cards dating back to the late 1800s. The hand-written cards contain data about sightings of birds such as the ruby-throated hummingbird, often spotted in the 1930s when fruit trees bloomed in spring. Now being digitized, data from these cards will be stored on a U.S. Geological Survey database."

Scientists use treetop gondolas in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southeast Washington to study the effects of global warming on trees.

"It took a court order, a bomb squad, and seven months of work by U.S. EPA specialists, but the Abrachem Chemical facility in Clifton, New Jersey now is decontaminated."

"Montpellier, France -- Pesticides, viruses, industrialised farming, fungus... what on Earth is killing our bees? That's the big question being asked at Apimondia, the 41st world apiculture congress, where 10,000 beekeepers, entomologists and other actors in the honey business are gathered in this southern French city until Sunday."

"Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad this summer started to walk away from its rail expansion project in the Powder River Basin, the largest source of coal in the country, citing the flagging U.S. economy and regulatory uncertainty."

"With Congress moving slowly on a measure to curb industrial greenhouse gas emissions, the United States may find itself with little sway at the coming international conference to construct a new pact aimed at easing global warming."

"Representatives of the world's 17 biggest carbon polluters kicked off a week of high-stakes talks on climate change Thursday with a discussion at the US State Department."

"The Obama administration called Thursday for a comprehensive national system for regulating the use of federal waters along the nation’s marine and Great Lakes shores, now administered by a hodgepodge of federal, state or other agencies with often-conflicting goals."

"Abandoned mercury mines throughout central California's rugged coastal mountains are polluting the state's major waterways, rendering fish unsafe to eat and risking the health of at least 100,000 impoverished people."

"Runoff from all but the largest farms is essentially unregulated by many of the federal laws intended to prevent pollution and protect drinking water sources."