"There is a 50 percent chance the feared El Nino weather pattern which can trigger droughts in Southeast Asia and Australia and floods in South America may strike later this year, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center warned on Thursday."

"In its strongest prediction so far that El Nino could emerge, the CPC said conditions are still expected to be neutral between June and August, but there is a 50 percent likelihood that El Nino will develop in the remainder of the year.

"The scientist who exposed the inner workings of the ultra-conservative Heartland Institute, triggering the defection of key donors, has been reinstated after an investigation."

"A five-year farm and food bill that would revamp the federal safety net for farmers and eliminate direct government payments for idle crop fields took its first step toward passage Thursday in the Senate."

"So far, 2012 has been the warmest year the United States has ever seen, with the warmest spring and the second-warmest May since record-keeping began in 1895, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported on Thursday."

A new investigation marks the five U.S. cities most vulnerable to hurricanes as Tampa/St. Petersburg, Miami, New Orleans, Norfolk/Virginia Beach, and Houston/Galveston.

"Experts are warning that the public dangerously underestimates the health risks linked to smoking cannabis."

"LONDON -- Drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea have spread to countries across the world, the United Nations health agency said on Wednesday, and millions of patients may run out of treatment options unless doctors catch and treat cases earlier."

"The [British Columbia] provincial government routinely fails its legal duty to promptly inform citizens of risks to public health and safety, warn legal scholars at the University of Victoria."

"Failures to disclose include air pollution, deteriorating infrastructure, parasite infestations, contaminated water and disease risk. Relevant information has been withheld from potential victims, scientists and the media — in some cases for almost a decade, says the university’s Environmental Law Clinic following a study of six cases across B.C.

"WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Small doses of a flame retardant commonly added to furniture and baby products can trigger obesity, anxiety and developmental problems, according to the first independent study of a chemical promoted as safe by industry and government officials."

"Toronto has become the first major city in Canada to ban plastic shopping bags in a surprise city council vote that the mayor denounced as 'ludicrous.'"