The good news is that the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, expected to be bigger this year because of high runoff and the BP spill, did not set a record for size. The bad news is that oxygen levels in the dead zone that did develop this year are extremely low.

"Partisan bickering erupted in the Senate [Tuesday] over how quickly the federal government should implement a dozen safety recommendations to ensure 104 nuclear plants in the United States are operating safely."

The intertwined problems of climate change, drought, desertification, failed states, terrorism, and insurgency are causing a human catastrophe in the Horn of Africa.

With the Japanese government apparently failing in the task of protecting the public from radiation after the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear station, ordinary Japanese citizens are buying dosimeters -- and making startling discoveries.

"It's official: July was a scorcher. High temperatures in communities across the USA broke or tied records 2,676 times, almost double the number (1,444) of a year ago, the National Weather Service reports."

"More than 15 years after a fertilizer bomb was used to blow up a government building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, the federal government is proposing to regulate the sale and transfer of the chemical ammonium nitrate."

"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is concerned that hydraulic fracturing of natural-gas wells near its dams — such as the one at Joe Pool Lake in southwestern Dallas County — could threaten dam safety."

"Across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, valuable goods are being transported daily. But the goods - crude oil, gasoline and other hazardous liquids, as well as natural gas - are shipped out of sight, through transmission pipelines under the land and waters of the region."

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is approaching completion of an ambitious study that concludes that a meltdown at a typical American reactor would lead to far fewer deaths than previously assumed."

"The Japanese government disclosed reports Friday showing that its primary nuclear regulator tried to manipulate public opinion at forums to promote nuclear power, findings that further damage the industry's already tattered reputation."