"STANISLAUS NATIONAL FOREST -- Perched atop a charred ridge, scientist Brad Rust stares at a tiny bead of water -- which sits, motionless, glistening like a perfect pearl in a sea of ash."

"WASHINGTON — Hunting for offshore oil in remote and unforgiving Arctic waters requires vessels capable of withstanding crushing blows from icebergs, a nearby stash of emergency equipment and other specialized resources, according to a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts."

"Fire consumed a chemical plant west of Oklahoma City overnight Thursday, forcing evacuations but causing no injuries and leaving surrounding areas unscathed, officials said."

"Property losses from flooding in Colorado will total nearly $2 billion, about half from housing and half in the commercial and government sectors, catastrophe modeling firm Eqecat said on Wednesday in the first comprehensive estimate of the disaster's economic toll."

"Japanese authorities, now struggling to contain leaks of radioactive groundwater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, were urged two years ago by U.S. experts to take immediate steps to prevent groundwater contamination but decided not to act on the advice."

"MEXICO CITY -- Mexican authorities launched operations Tuesday to rescue tens of thousands of stranded tourists from Pacific resorts such as Acapulco, as deadly twin storms dissipated but the floods they spawned continued to inundate vast parts of Mexico."

"There was never doubt that the deadly train derailment in Lac-Mégantic caused an environmental disaster, but a report made public this week by Quebec’s ministry of the environment details the extent of the devastation to the soil, river and lake near the disaster zone."

"Colorado's richest oil field -- the Denver-Julesburg Basin -- is buried in floodwaters, raising operational and environmental concerns, as state and industry officials work to get a handle on the problem."

"Search-and-rescue teams bolstered by National Guard troops fanned out across Colorado's flood-stricken landscape on Monday, as a week of torrential rains blamed for eight deaths and the destruction of at least 1,600 homes finally gave way to sunny skies."

"Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday it has released rainwater that accumulated during a typhoon between barriers around storage tanks at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex to prevent the water overflowing."

"Top executives with [Canada's] insurance sector — which suffered losses of more than $2 billion in southern Alberta’s recent floods — unanimously agree Canada will see more such disasters due to intense rains caused by climate change, making comprehensive flood insurance unavailable to homeowners."

"Record-shattering rainstorms across Colorado's Front Range led to flooding that blew out at least six dams Thursday, stranding a Larimer County family on the second floor of their home and breaching a federal stormwater holding pond northeast of Denver."

"Tropical Storm Ingrid doused eastern Mexico with heavy rain on Friday, helping to close two key ports and prompt state oil monopoly Pemex to take steps to protect its operations in the Gulf of Mexico."

"Some parts of nature and human society are more vulnerable than expected to climate change, according to a draft of a U.N. report that adds a new purple color to a key diagram to show worsening risks beyond the red used so far."

"Drop by drop by drop, historic rainfall across a 150-mile expanse of Colorado's Front Range turned neighborhood streams into rampaging torrents that claimed at least three lives and continued to flood homes and destroy roads into the night."