The Pacific "ring of fire" -- the zone where tectonic plates crunch -- doesn't stop at the equator. It extends through the U.S. Pacific Northwest, which is also vulnerable to intense quakes. States like Oregon are just beginning to retrofit potentially lethal buildings, and the seismic clock is ticking.
"Former Vice President Al Gore took aim at skeptics who doubt the reality of human-caused climate change, saying he wished it were an illusion but that the problem is real and urgent."
Join Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) in Minneapolis for hands-on training, panels on the latest trends and insight into cutting-edge developments.
Utah has refused shipments of depleted uranium from the Department of Energy's Savannah River nuclear materials processing center in South Carolina.
"A new report shows predictions for a warming climate could be devastating to duck production in the Prairie Pothole Region."
"An independent board of scientists will be appointed to review the workings of the world’s top climate science panel, which has faced recriminations over inaccuracies in a 2007 report, a United Nations environmental spokesman said Friday."
"Thousands of the nation's largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act's reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators."
"California water resources board plan, backed by environmentalists, would end practice of sucking in ocean water -- along with small animals, fish larvae and, occasionally, people -- to cool plants."
A Univ. of Florida researcher has found that endocrine-disrupting agricultural pesticides have harmed the health of Yaqui people in Mexico. Among the effects: girls developing breasts that lack mammary tissue needed to produce milk.
"One in four U.S. parents believes some vaccines cause autism in healthy children, but even many of those worried about vaccine risks think their children should be vaccinated. Most parents continue to follow the advice of their children's doctors, according to a study based on a survey of 1,552 parents. Extensive research has found no connection between autism and vaccines."
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