"Japanese authorities, now struggling to contain leaks of radioactive groundwater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, were urged two years ago by U.S. experts to take immediate steps to prevent groundwater contamination but decided not to act on the advice."

"Property losses from flooding in Colorado will total nearly $2 billion, about half from housing and half in the commercial and government sectors, catastrophe modeling firm Eqecat said on Wednesday in the first comprehensive estimate of the disaster's economic toll."

"Colorado's richest oil field -- the Denver-Julesburg Basin -- is buried in floodwaters, raising operational and environmental concerns, as state and industry officials work to get a handle on the problem."

"There was never doubt that the deadly train derailment in Lac-Mégantic caused an environmental disaster, but a report made public this week by Quebec’s ministry of the environment details the extent of the devastation to the soil, river and lake near the disaster zone."

"MEXICO CITY -- Mexican authorities launched operations Tuesday to rescue tens of thousands of stranded tourists from Pacific resorts such as Acapulco, as deadly twin storms dissipated but the floods they spawned continued to inundate vast parts of Mexico."

"Top executives with [Canada's] insurance sector — which suffered losses of more than $2 billion in southern Alberta’s recent floods — unanimously agree Canada will see more such disasters due to intense rains caused by climate change, making comprehensive flood insurance unavailable to homeowners."

"Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday it has released rainwater that accumulated during a typhoon between barriers around storage tanks at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex to prevent the water overflowing."

"Search-and-rescue teams bolstered by National Guard troops fanned out across Colorado's flood-stricken landscape on Monday, as a week of torrential rains blamed for eight deaths and the destruction of at least 1,600 homes finally gave way to sunny skies."

"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."

"Tropical Storm Ingrid doused eastern Mexico with heavy rain on Friday, helping to close two key ports and prompt state oil monopoly Pemex to take steps to protect its operations in the Gulf of Mexico."