"The first major snowfall of the year and a cold snap set to sweep into the northern Midwest could harm some late-maturing corn and soybeans crops and delay the harvest, an agricultural meteorologist and the National Weather Service said on Thursday."

"BRUSSELS -- The European Food Safety Authority said Thursday it cannot accept an 'inadequate' report by a French scientist on a link between cancer and genetically modified corn."

"The EFSA said an initial review showed that the 'design, reporting and analysis of the study ... are inadequate,' meaning it could not 'regard the authors' conclusions as scientifically sound.'

"An analysis of Greenland ice core samples indicates significant global methane emissions per capita during the Roman Empire and China's Han Dynasty — much greater than had been known."

"HOMER, Alaska -- Kris Holderied, who directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, says the ocean's increasing acidity is 'the reason fishermen stop me in the grocery store.'"

"BANGKOK -- Organised crime trade worth billions of dollars is responsible for 50 to 90 percent of illegal logging in parts of the Amazon basin, Central Africa and Southeast Asia, with implications for deforestation, climate change and the well-being of indigenous people, said a report released Thursday."

"Approval of foods from genetically modified animals is unjustifiably slow, scientists say; some are looking abroad."

"Swift action is required to save many of the world's fisheries that are declining faster than expected, a study in a leading scientific journal shows."

"Pregnant rats exposed to an industrial pollutant passed on a variety of diseases to their unexposed great-grandkids, according to a study published Wednesday."

"Energy companies should not drill for crude oil in Arctic waters because the environmental risks are too high, Total SA Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie said in the Financial Times on Wednesday."

"The newspaper described de Margerie's comments as the first time a major oil company has publicly criticised offshore exploration in the Arctic.

The risk of an oil spill in such an environmentally sensitive area was simply too high, according to de Margerie."

"Global grain production is expected to hit record levels this year, despite the drought that gripped most of the Midwest, the Worldwatch Institute said in a report released yesterday."