"The level of alarm is already high in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, as the Pacific island nation struggles with rising sea levels and the after-effects of decades of U.S. nuclear testing on its atolls."

"Scorched by days of unrelenting wildfires, parts of southeast Australia are facing 'catastrophic fire danger.' On Monday, officials declared a state of emergency for all of New South Wales, the country's most populous state."

"Five thousand miles west of Los Angeles and 500 miles north of the equator, on a far-flung spit of white coral sand in the central Pacific, a massive, aging and weathered concrete dome bobs up and down with the tide. Here in the Marshall Islands, Runit Dome holds more than 3.1 million cubic feet — or 35 Olympic-sized swimming pools — of U.S.-produced radioactive soil and debris, including lethal amounts of plutonium."

"Two Indonesian journalists who had reported on an illegal oil palm plantation in Sumatra while also allegedly trying to gain control of the crop have been found dead at the plantation."

"More than 40 racing teams from 21 countries left Darwin on Sunday to race across Australia to the southern city of Adelaide in the world’s fastest solar powered cars."

"Australian firefighters battled more than 100 bushfires across two eastern states on Sunday as authorities warned that parts of the country could expected a severe bushfire season this summer."

"The New Zealand government has banned tourists from swimming with bottlenose dolphins in an attempt to save the struggling species."

"Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is in very poor condition because of climate change, over fishing and land clearing, a state agency said on Friday, as it downgraded the reef’s status to the lowest level, which could jeopardize its World Heritage status."