"The job of removing mercury from the environment can be so dangerous that Brian Chapman sometimes wears the equivalent of a spacesuit to scoop up the toxic balls of liquid metal."

"Trout caught in Torch Lake, Mich., are not safe to eat. Groundwater in Baldwin, Fla., is not safe to drink. Six acres of land in Bridgewater, Mass., are not safe to live on."

"Michigan State University environmental toxicology professor Matt Zwiernik presented part two of the results from the 2013 dead bird collection in St. Louis to the Pine River Superfund Taskforce Wednesday. Zwiernik’s team monitored 60 active nests not only in the nine-block residential area surrounding the former Velsicol plant site but also 15 kilometers downstream. As was the case with the first batch of results, American robins eggs collected contained DDx levels far above those found to induce death in laboratory settings."

"The Western U.S. is getting higher and drier."

"The National Park Service has banned drones from flying over the Appalachian Trail."

"The bald eagle may no longer be at risk of extinction, but the U.S. effort to protect the national bird became harder on Wednesday."

"SAN FRANCISCO — The threats from climate change are many: extreme weather, shrinking snowpack, altered ecosystems and rising and more acidic seas, to name a few. Another lesser-known issue may hit especially close to home for city dwellers. In the world’s already smoggy metropolises, pollution is likely to grow worse, a phenomenon scientists have taken to calling the climate penalty."

"SEATTLE — The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered a Hanford Nuclear Reservation contractor to reinstate a worker who the department says was fired for voicing concerns about nuclear and environmental safety, officials announced Wednesday."

"Cities are almost always hotter than the surrounding rural area but global warming takes that heat and makes it worse. In particularly days over 90°F, are associated with dangerous ozone pollution levels that can trigger asthma attacks, heart attacks, and otthe future, this combination of urbanization and climate change could raise urban temperatures to levels that threaten human health, strain energy resources, and compromise economic productivity."