"Efforts to write benefits for biotech seed companies into US legislation, including the new Farm Bill, are sparking a backlash from groups that say the multiple measures would severely limit US oversight of genetically modified crops."

"For salmon trying to make it upriver to spawn before a hot summer hits, slow and steady loses the evolutionary race. Salmon DNA records stretching back over 30 years show that nature has increasingly selected for fish that migrate from the ocean earlier in the year. It is among the first pieces of genetic evidence that climate change is driving the evolution of a species."

"UK company wants to unleash genetically modified insects in the Keys, but residents fear not enough is known about the insects"

"This week a major conference in Cairns, Australia, is focusing on threats to coral reefs. Across the globe, reefs have been savaged by rising sea temperatures, overfishing, pollution and ocean acidification – a phenomenon related to rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere that make it difficult for creatures to build their shells and skeletons."

"LOS ANGELES -- White abalone, the endangered shellfish that once numbered in the millions off the Southern California coast, have declined precipitously over the last decade and are on the brink of extinction, a study has found."

"The carbon-rich peat forests of northern Sumatra are burning again as palm oil companies break Indonesian law to clear the land for their plantations."

"Perhaps you heard the story going around today. A genetically modified grass started pumping out cyanide gas, killing a herd of cattle. CBS News had the scoop, as seen at WTVR.com in Richmond: 'Genetically modified grass linked to cattle deaths.' It’s basically a story custom-built for rapid spread around the internet. And it is basically completely wrong. The grass at issue, Tifton 85, was not genetically modified at all, but rather is a hybrid."

"Lonesome George, the last remaining tortoise of his kind and a conservation icon, died on Sunday of unknown causes, the Galapagos National Park said. He was thought to be about 100 years old."

"One swarm covered the side-view mirror of a Volvo station wagon in a lot by the Hudson River, trapping a family of three inside. Another humming cluster the size of a watermelon bent a tree branch in front of a Chase Bank on the Lower East Side, attracting a crowd of gasping onlookers. And for several hours, thousands of bees carpeted a two-foot-tall red standpipe on the patio of a South Street Seaport restaurant, sending would-be outdoor diners elsewhere."

Spraying for mosquitoes has begun in Florida, as in many other places. Some of the sprays can be harmful to the environment. Is the cure worse than the problem?

"U.S. officials ruled on Wednesday that a tiny lizard would be kept off the endangered species list after agreements with Texas and New Mexico landowners intended to protect its habitat and preserve oil and gas production in the region."

"Swaths of Cape Cod's salt marshes are slowly disintegrating. For the human observer, the most notable sign of their decline might be the increase in night herons. They crouch like low, dark smudges on the salt marshes at dawn after feeding on the surfeit of Sesarma crabs through the night."

"Three-quarters of the meat from whales caught last summer was unsold, report reveals."

"Parasitic mites wiping out bee colonies by transmitting deadly virus directly into the bloodstream of the bees, research reveals"

"Human activity is affecting Earth in many ways, but a new study suggests that continued population growth and its impact on climate and ecology could trigger a more profound chain reaction of effects within little more than a decade."