Public

"Long respected by his professional peers around the world, [scientist Michael] Mann became more widely known as one of the targets of the so-called and now discredited 'climategate scandal,' involving hacked emails of several prominent climate scientists. Mann's science and professional conduct (and that of others so targeted) have been repeatedly exonerated by independent professional review."

"According to Professor Ian Simmonds of the University of Melbourne, it is a combination of the melting sea ice and the atmospheric warming that is happening globally that is responsible for the high rate of warming in the Arctic."

"For two centuries, the town of Hermann has been known for the Missouri River. But now the river is making Hermann known for an unexpected reason: It is a hot spot for nitrate. Despite three decades of costly efforts to clean it up, the levels at Hermann have increased 75 percent since 1980."

"PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — Ray Marcum bears the marks of a bygone era of coal mining. At 83, his voice is raspy, his eastern Kentucky accent thick and his forearms leathery. A black pouch of Stoker's 24C chewing tobacco pokes out of the back pocket of his jeans. "I started chewing in the mines to keep the coal dust out of my mouth," he says.

Plenty of that dust still found its way to his lungs. For the past 30 years, he's gotten a monthly check to compensate him for the disease that steals his breath — the old bane of miners known as black lung.

"KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An unrelenting and record-setting heat wave peaked this weekend, beating a broad swath of states into sweaty submission, with above-normal triple-digit temperatures stretching from St. Louis to Washington."

"A disturbing nationwide decline in oysters and the life-giving reefs that they build is particularly dramatic in California, where the once-abundant native species has been virtually wiped out, according to a recent scientific study."

"WASHINGTON -- When it comes to energy issues, Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Josh Mandel agree on two things -- and maybe only two things: First, energy issues and economic issues are inextricably linked. And second, they will probably play an outsized role in Ohio's U.S. Senate race."