"More than 1 million homes and businesses in a swath from Indiana to Virginia remained without power on Wednesday, five days after deadly storms tore through the region."
"More than 2,000 temperature records have been matched or broken in the past week as a brutal heat wave baked much of the United States, and June saw more than 3,200 records topped, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Monday."
"The historic Texas drought caused the Ogallala Aquifer to experience its largest decline in 25 years across a large swath of the Texas Panhandle, new numbers from a water district show."
"The carbon-rich peat forests of northern Sumatra are burning again as palm oil companies break Indonesian law to clear the land for their plantations."
"Humane Society International called it a 'monumental decision' and a 'watershed moment for the global movement to protect sharks.' The conservation group Shark Savers said it 'could be the best news for the oceans in some time.' The major development? The Chinese government announced Tuesday that it would ban the serving of shark fin soup, a prized and expensive delicacy, at official banquets."
"LOS ANGELES -- White abalone, the endangered shellfish that once numbered in the millions off the Southern California coast, have declined precipitously over the last decade and are on the brink of extinction, a study has found."
"PANAMA CITY, Panama, July 4, 2012 (ENS) - South Korea startled International Whaling Commission delegates today by announcing that the country plans to start 'scientific' whaling off its shores."
"MOAPA, Nev. -- Beyond the ancestral hunting fields and the rows of small, sparse homes, the cemetery at the Moapa River Indian Reservation sprawls across a barren hill with the tombstones of tribal members who died young."
"LONDON -- A global study mapping human diseases that come from animals like tuberculosis, AIDS, bird flu or Rift Valley fever has found that just 13 such diseases are responsible for 2.4 billion cases of human illness and 2.2 million deaths a year."
