"Fish piracy - seafood caught illegally, not reported to authorities or outside environmental and catch regulations - represents as much as $10 billion to $23 billion in global losses each year, a non-profit conservation group estimated Wednesday."

"The National Research Council, which gave the country canola and the atomic clock, will now be taking its scientific cues from Canadian industry as part of a makeover of the country’s flagship research labs."

"The United States' new proposal to let countries draft their own emissions reduction plans rather than working toward a common target can unlock languishing U.N. climate negotiations, the U.S. climate change envoy said on Tuesday."

"Pacific Gas and Electric Co. could face a record fine for a deadly 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion in a San Francisco suburb. Officials hope it will help prevent future accidents while some warn that rising natural gas demand is outpacing investment in energy infrastructure."

"With the muzzling of scientists, Harper’s obsession with controlling the message verges on the Orwellian."

"The Earth's wettest regions are likely to get wetter while the most arid will get drier due to warming of the atmosphere caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, according to a new NASA analysis of more than a dozen climate models."

"Acidification is an additional stress on an ecosystem already under pressure from rapid sea ice loss, study warns."

"The Arctic ecosystem, already under pressure from record ice melts, faces another potential threat in the form of rapid acidification of the ocean, according to an international study published on Monday.

"Scientists say that foxes in Arctic regions who feed on ocean prey are being exposed to dangerous levels of mercury."

"Living near a toxic waste site may represent as much of a health threat as some infectious diseases, a study in three developing countries finds."

"CANBERRA -- Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will argue Australia’s whaling case against Japan in a three week hearing before the International Court of Justice in the Hague beginning on June 26."

"The world's most widely used insecticide is devastating dragonflies, snails and other water-based species, a groundbreaking Dutch study has revealed."

"The danger that the decline of bees and other pollinators represents to the world’s food supply was highlighted this week when the European Commission decided to ban a class of pesticides suspected of playing a role in so-called 'colony collapse disorder.'"

"China might be cracking down on luxury spending in watches, cars, banquets and really foul liquor. But the market for pricey fish parts continues relatively unabated."

"SYDNEY — China is rapidly assuming a global leadership role on climate change alongside the United States, a new study said Monday, but it warned greenhouse gas emissions worldwide continue to rise strongly."

"Scientists monitoring global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations report that, for the first time in human history, CO2 levels could soon rise above 400 parts per million for a sustained period of time in much of the Northern Hemisphere."