Disasters

"Canada has become the first country to drop out of the UN convention to combat desertification."

"HOUSTON -- Oklahoma's largest-recorded earthquake was triggered by injection wells used by the oil and gas industry, according to a report released this week."

"The Coast Guard has asked the Justice Department to investigate possible pollution violations by both the drilling rigs Shell used in its botched efforts to explore for oil last year in the Arctic Ocean waters off the northern coast of Alaska."

"A mile-long train hauling oil from Canada derailed and leaked 30,000 gallons of crude in western Minnesota on Wednesday, as debate rages over the environmental risks of transporting tar sands across the border."

"Louisiana has seen two of the top 10 highest hurricane storm surge levels along the Gulf of Mexico coast in modern times, but it’s Pass Christian, Miss., that has experienced the top two surge heights -- 28 feet during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and 24.6 feet during Hurricane Camille in 1969 -- according to a new database developed by researchers at Louisiana State University."

"BILLINGS, Mont. -- Federal regulators proposed $1.7 million in civil penalties against Exxon Mobil Corp. on Monday for safety violations linked to a pipeline rupture that spilled an estimated 63,000 gallons of crude oil into Montana's scenic Yellowstone River."

"NOAA predicts tough spring for already struggling farmers as growing demand for water leaves US more exposed dry seasons."

"In 1859 the Sun erupted, and on Earth wires shot off sparks that shocked telegraph operators and set their paper on fire."

"Transocean's chief executive testified Tuesday during the BP oil spill civil suit in New Orleans that employees should have done more to detect signs of trouble before the company's drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010."

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted 3 to 2 on Tuesday to require improvements to the emergency vents at 31 American reactors that share design similarities with the Japanese reactors that melted down two years ago. The agency stopped short, however, of requiring filters to scrub out radioactive particles coming through those vents."