"A severe drought has plunged millions of Somalis into crisis after rains failed for several consecutive seasons in this Horn of Africa nation, and the U.N. and aid groups are warning of the possibility of a looming catastrophe."

"A Department of Interior study of potential new restrictions on surface coal mining outlines projected production shifts and job losses as well as estimated environmental benefits of tougher regulations, according to a draft report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act."

"EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson spent an hour listening to residents of El Paso, Vinton, Westway, Sunland Park and other locations who spoke of health problems they believe are related to pollution from a steel plant, a landfill, chemical plants, dairies and Asarco, the shuttered smelter."

After illegally high levels of antibiotics were routinely found in dairy cows headed for the slaughterhouse, the Food and Drug Administration decided to test milk from the farms those cows came from. Dairy farmers, worried more about profits than antibiotic resistance that could sicken their customers, have objected. Now the two sides may be looking for win-win solutions. Meanwhile, testing is on hold.

"Members are linked by the spiritual connections between their local desert landscapes and the parched sacred grounds that have nurtured some of the world's great religions."

Some time in the year 2011, the earth's human population is expected to reach 7 billion. By 2045 global population is projected to reach nine billion. Can the planet take the strain?

"Federal authorities are urging schools across the U.S. to replace the electrical components in older light fixtures to reduce the threat of contamination from potentially cancer-causing chemicals."

Alarm bells are being set off by a new study of the families of California farm workers exposed to pesticides. It finds much higher levels of pervasive developmental disorder among children of mothers exposed to higher levels of neurotoxicant organophosphate pesticides.

"Asthma rates are on the rise in California, but the condition disproportionately affects low-income children and adults, according to a study from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research."

As Christmas approaches former tobacco country in rural Prince George's County, Maryland, a food bank helps poor people living in trailers, discarded campers, and even tents. It's not just food, blankets, and clothing that they need. They need kerosene, propane, heating oil, and firewood. They do not qualify for federal low-income fuel assistance. They do not have plumbing or electricity. It is 23 degress outside and they are 23 miles from the White House.

"The winding Mataponi Creek looks clear in the sunlight, with marsh grasses lining its banks. But some of the coal ash waste from a nearby power plant is also coursing through its waters, and residents are worried it is contaminating their well water."

"The Arab world, one of the driest regions on the planet, will tip into severe water scarcity as early as 2015, a report issued [Nov. 4] predicts."

"Here in the vast wilderness surrounding Peru's Alto Purús National Park, the locations of [mahogany] trees, worth tens of thousands of dollars in the United States, have become closely guarded secrets among members of indigenous tribes."

"More than 2 million cases of malaria are expected in Pakistan in the coming months in the wake of the country's devastating floods, aid workers have warned."

The Inughuit people, who hunt marine mammals with kayaks and harpoons from the world's northernmost permanently inhabited settlements, are seeing their way of life vanish as the ice melts beneath them.