"Tropical Storm Ernesto picked up speed in the western Caribbean on Monday as it moved toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, dousing Honduras and Belize on its way."

"Thousands of East Bay residents were ordered to stay in their homes with the windows and doors closed Monday night after a series of explosions and fires tore through Chevron's Richmond refinery."

"LINCOLN, Neb. -- Thousands of fish are dying in the Midwest as the hot, dry summer dries up rivers and causes water temperatures to climb in some spots to nearly 100 degrees."

"The relentless, weather-gone-crazy type of heat that has blistered the United States and other parts of the world in recent years is so rare that it can't be anything but man-made global warming, says a new statistical analysis from a top government scientist."

"OKLAHOMA CITY -- Some Oklahoma residents have returned to emergency shelters despite evacuation orders in many areas of the state being lifted, as wildfires continued to burn."

"TOKYO -- The Japanese utility that operates the nuclear power plant sent into meltdown by last year's tsunami received a trillion yen ($12.8 billion) public bailout Tuesday, effectively putting it under government control."

"MADISON, Wis. -- Federal transportation officials have ordered a Houston-based energy transportation company not to re-open a pipeline after it ruptured and leaked oil into a Wisconsin field."

"CORVALLIS, Oregon -- The climate's 'new normal' for most of the coming century will parallel the long-term drought that hit western North America from 2000 to 2004 -- the most severe drought in 800 years - scientists report in a study published Sunday."

"BEIJING – The worst rainstorm to hit the Chinese capital in six decades has given rise to widespread anger against officials who are accused of censoring the scope of massive floods."

"GALVESTON - With the world focused on a BP rig explosion in the spring of 2010 that caused the worst oil spill in U.S. history, a massive release of pollutants from the company's Texas City refinery went largely unnoticed."