"Land degradation, such as a spread of deserts in parts of Africa, costs the world economy trillions of dollars a year and may drive tens of millions of people from their homes, a U.N.-backed study said on Tuesday."
New expert background reports of interest to environmental journalists and the public have been published by the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy.
"Politicians, activists, tribes and media outlets have expressed shock at last month's abandoned mine spill in Colorado, which sent 3 million gallons of polluted water down the Animas River. But environmental advocates and groups that have for decades been trying to clean up the legacy of unregulated mining say the incident pales in comparison to the broader problem of tens of thousands of mines leaking across the country."
"QASSIARSUK, Greenland — Carl and Ellen Frederiksen gazed anxiously at a spot on the snow-flecked mountain behind their village. The sheepdogs had been running back and forth, and they feared a lamb was trapped on one of the slopes."
"Steering his Toyota 4Runner through a dirt path in the town of Cerrillos, Todd Brown points to one of the piles of waste rock that have been sitting for decades in one of the most mineral-rich mining districts in the state."
"After years of neglect, the site of the long-closed U.S. Steel Duluth Works may be be on the verge of revitalization."
"President Barack Obama will arrive today in Alaska, expected to touch down this afternoon in Anchorage, and his three-day visit will showcase the impacts of global climate change on Alaskans, primarily those in coastal communities."
"President Barack Obama on Monday will officially restore Denali as the name of North America's tallest mountain, siding with the state of Alaska in ending a 40-year battle over what to call a peak that has been known as Mount McKinley."
"With warming seas creating new opportunities at the top of the world, nations are scrambling over the Arctic — its territorial waters, transit routes and especially its natural resources — in a rivalry some already call a new Cold War."
"U.S. officials responsible for the Aug. 5 spill of toxic mine waste in southwestern Colorado had no plan in place for dealing with a catastrophic breach of the kind that fouled a long stretch of the state’s Animas River, an internal inquiry has concluded."
Advertisement 
