"Nearly half of lakes and reservoirs nationwide contain fish with potentially harmful levels of the toxic metal mercury, according to a federal study released Tuesday."

"Power was restored in Brazil after an outage at a dam providing 20 percent of the country's energy thrust about half of the nation's 190 million people into darkness for at least two hours."

"West Virginia political leaders promised Tuesday to speak "with one voice" to clarify the Obama administration's proposals to more strictly regulate mountaintop removal coal mining."

"Exposure to high levels of a controversial chemical found in thousands of everyday plastic products appears to cause erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems in men, according to a new study published Wednesday."

"The Ninth World Wilderness Congress in Mérida, Yucatán, [is] an event that draws together top conservation officials and activists from across the globe to tackle trans-national wilderness issues."

"The Environmental Protection Agency has directed two of its lawyers to makes changes to a YouTube video they posted that is critical of the Obama administration's climate change policy."

"As the world heads for tough negotiations over a global climate deal next month, an influential forecasting agency said on Tuesday that current energy policies were not sustainable, and that a vast transformation of energy use was required to fend off the worst consequences of global warming."

An interesting new experiment in journalism "surfaced today in a Science Times article by  Lindsey Hoshaw, known on Twitter as  @thegarbagegirl. The feature is an up-close examination of the  Pacific Ocean's vast patch of plastic flotsam, reported with travel funds provided by readers of Spot.us."

"At an emotional meeting, a state panel imposes the landmark restrictions to help restore species, catches of which have dropped up to 95%. The plan was forged out of contentious negotiations."

"Australia's koalas could be extinct in 30 years, conservationists warned Tuesday, calling for the iconic creatures to be declared an endangered species."

"A report shows concentrations of several major pesticides mostly declined or remained the same in the U.S. 'Corn Belt' rivers and streams from 1996 to 2006."

"A climate change deal is needed not just to ward off global warming, but to ensure a shift from increasingly costly fossil fuels that could lead to a doubling of energy bills, the IEA's chief economist said on Tuesday."

"When you get right down to it, dust is pretty complicated. It also may be affecting your health."

"Wastewater from natural gas drilling in New York state is radioactive, as high as 267 times the limit safe for discharge into the environment and thousands of times the limit safe for people to drink."

"The Senate climate debate shifts into a higher gear this week as advocates look beyond the partisan gridlock that engulfed the Environment and Public Works Committee and onto the broader quest of finding 60 votes for floor passage."