"Last week, when President Obama named New Jersey a federal disaster area for floods that came before Hurricane Irene, he cemented 2011’s ranking as the United States’ most disaster-prone year ever."

The Senate voted 79-12 Monday night to approve a bipartisan stopgap spending bill that funds some disaster relief from FEMA and and abandons controversial cuts to green energy programs. Democrats said they expected the seven-week funding extension to be approved by the GOP-led House, which is in pro forma session after most members went home.

"RECYCLING refrigerators — especially those made more than 15 years ago — is a tricky job. The coolant in old appliances (now banned from newer versions) can cause serious trouble, warming the atmosphere and depleting the ozone layer."

"The U.S. Department of the Interior is reviewing whether any of the 175 Marcellus Shale gas wells drilled in Pennsylvania state forests or other permitted or planned well developments on publicly owned land violates a 1964 federal land conservation law."

"The House Energy and Commerce Committee's GOP leadership inaccurately claimed Thursday that a number of green groups support legislation to delay – perhaps indefinitely – a pair of Environmental Protection Agency power plant pollution regulations."

"The federal government has spent $16.9 billion over the past 15 years to subsidize key ingredients in junk foods that bloat Americans’ midsections and contribute to obesity-related medical conditions that cost billions more to treat."

Evidence to support the idea that human emissions are causing global warming has been piling up for more than three decades. Denial of this demonstrable scientific truth has become a litmus test for Republicans. The reasons for this denial seem to be a massive PR campaign funded by the coal and oil industries combined with a deep-seated and angry cultural strain of American know-nothingism.

"The Obama administration recently pulled the plug on lowering EPA limits. It seems clear, though, that the lower the level, the fewer effects on health."

"A defunct NASA satellite the size of a bus that is expected to fall to Earth on Friday will likely miss North America, NASA said.

The agency's 13,000-pound (5,900 kg) Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, has been slowly tumbling from orbit since its mission ended in 2005. It is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and break apart on Friday."

The UARS satellite played a historic role in investigating the atmospheric chemistry behind the stratospheric ozone hole, and has been replaced by more advanced instruments gathering additional data.