The quiet mining town of Ishikawa in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture is an emblem of the nation's long-buried nuclear past, and the dark side of its nuclear programs. There, during World War II, junior high school boys were forced by soldiers to mine uranium for Japan's secret program to develop a nuclear bomb than could destroy New York.
Martin Fackler reports for the New York Times September 5, 2011.
"500 MILES FROM THE NORTH POLE -- The minimum summertime volume of Arctic sea ice fell to a record low last year, researchers said in a study to be published shortly, suggesting that thinning of the ice had outweighed a recovery in area."
The U.S. and Australia have been the breadbasket that fed famine-stricken areas of Africa and Asia in recent decades. Global climate change may be weakening that foundation of world food security.
"As the last bit of life drained from his frail body, Ahmed Nur was still tethered to an intravenous tube. His father brushed his fingers over the boy’s eyes to close the motionless eyelids. He gently pulled a sheet over his son’s face and removed the tube from his thin arm."
"Firefighters battled raging wildfires across Central Texas for a second day Monday as wind-driven flames continued their relentless march through hundreds of homes and across thousands of acres."
Based at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, the second edition of the free, online collaborative Encyclopedia of Life, published Sept. 5, 2011, is redesigned and expanded with information on more than one-third of all known species on Earth. Search >700,000 species pages and 600,000 still images and videos.
"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- People with C8 in their blood face a greater risk of having chronic kidney diseases, according to the latest in a series of West Virginia University studies on the toxic chemical."
"South Florida’s lakes, marshes and rivers pump fresh, crystal clear water across the state like veins carry blood through the body. But cities along South Florida’s coast are running out of water as drinking wells are taken over by the sea."
Domestic drinking water wells in the region around Augusta, Maine, show levels of arsenic above EPA's new safety standards. Excess arsenic in drinking water can cause a range of serious health problems.
"The cost of America's quiet billion dollar disaster in the Upper Midwest keeps rising as floodwaters decline."
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