"A laurel to Environmental Health News for taking a hard look at the politics behind a controversial editorial "

"The US government entered a state of suspended animation on 1 October after Congress failed to agree on a budget for the next fiscal year, causing federal agencies — including those overseeing science policy and research — to shut down indefinitely."

"Al Gore ripped U.S. television coverage of climate change Friday, alleging the media is cowering before industry-funded global warming 'deniers.'"

"MYSTIC, Conn. — On her trainer’s command, an alabaster-skinned beluga whale named Naku placed her chin on the deck of her outdoor pool and exhaled several times, emitting a hollow 'chuff' sound with each breath. The vapor rose into a petri dish a researcher held over her blowhole."

"STOCKHOLM -- Scientists can now say with extreme confidence that human activity is the dominant cause of the global warming observed since the 1950s, a new report by an international scientific group said Friday."

"WASHINGTON -- Top scientists from a variety of fields say they are about as certain that global warming is a real, man-made threat as they are that cigarettes kill."

"North Carolina’s environment agency has taken the unusual step of returning a federal grant to study streams and wetlands that could be harmed by hydraulic fracturing for natural gas."

"At its heart, a major new U.S. EPA report that synthesizes more than 1,000 studies about connections among streams, wetlands, rivers and lakes comes down to what elementary school students are taught about the water cycle. Streams flow into creeks that flow into rivers."

"Scientists meet on Monday to prepare the strongest warning yet that climate change is man-made and will cause more heatwaves, droughts and floods this century unless governments take action."

"Seventeen scientists who have criticized plans in Europe to regulate endocrine-disrupting chemicals have past or current ties to regulated industries."

"Rajendra K Pachauri says 'rational people' will be convinced by the science of the forthcoming blockbuster climate report."

"The good news: A sample of what are probably the best fracked wells in the country finds low emissions of methane, a potent heat-trapping gas. The bad news: The study likely missed the super-emitters, the wells that are responsible for the vast majority of methane leakage."

"About eight in 10 stories contain some discussion of uncertainties and risk, according to Oxford analysis"

"Rules bar government [Canadian] researchers from talking about their own work with journalists and even fellow researchers."

"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."