"An important opposition deputy this week accused Chile's government of being less than candid with the public about alarming levels of fine particulate pollution found in the nation’s leading cities."

"Japan's prime minister-elect said on Monday he will forge ahead with a tough 25 percent cut in emissions by 2020, despite growing opposition from industry which says the target will hurt the world's No. 2 economy."

"Differences between rich and developing countries prevented G20 finance ministers from agreeing measures on Saturday to curb global warming, casting more doubt on U.N. efforts to agree a new climate treaty."

"The American West is losing its autumn colors as global warming begins to bite and there is far more at stake than iconic scenery."

"Oregon regulators say they will not support an exemption from federal pollution rules for a cement plant in Eastern Oregon that is one of the largest sources of mercury emissions in the nation."

"Window and masonry caulking in hundreds of older schools in New England probably contain very high levels of now-banned toxins that can gradually be released into the air, posing a potential health risk to students and staff, environmental specialists say."

"California's third year of drought has worsened the already dire outlook for endangered coho salmon, as coastal creeks used for spawning dwindle into disconnected pools where fish get trapped and die."

"PAVILLION, Wyo. ... residents outside this small rural, farming community blame their water woes -- and what they perceive to be the unusual health problems in their midst -- on hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking,' a common technique used in drilling new oil and gas wells."

"Craftsmen who cut granite for kitchen countertops can be at risk of radiation exposure thousands of times above the federal safety limit, according to new research."

"Crops are wilting in the countryside, and the capital's water shortage has turned dire as Mexico grapples with its worst drought in more than half a century."