Scientists Say Arctic Once Was Tropical

Scientists have found what might have been the ideal ancient vacation hotspot with a 74-degree Fahrenheit average temperature, alligator ancestors and palm trees. It's smack in the middle of the Arctic. >> Read the Full Article

Women's Help Vital in Slowing Spread of Deserts

Women, who make up about 70 percent of rural workers worldwide, are key to turning back the spread of deserts, the head of the United Nations' main agency on rural poverty said on Wednesday. >> Read the Full Article

U.S. Has Easy Ride under Kyoto, U.N. Official Says

Washington is having an easy ride in U.N. talks to curb greenhouse gas emissions and the world may have to wait until after 2008 for greater U.S. involvement, the chair of a main U.N. climate group said. >> Read the Full Article

Philippines Shuts Down KFC Outlet for Pollution

A Philippine state agency on Tuesday ordered the closure of a branch of U.S.-based fast-food chain KFC and a local restaurant for discharging untreated waste water into a lake supplying water to Manila, officials said. >> Read the Full Article

Greenpeace Says Nuclear Waste Seeping into Groundwater from French Storage Site

Greenpeace said Tuesday that nuclear waste from a storage facility is seeping into groundwater in the Champagne region and threatening vineyards that produce the sparkling wine. >> Read the Full Article

Dutch Preparing for 14-Inch Ocean Rise by 2050

The Dutch can expect wetter winters and a threatening rise in sea levels of up to 35 centimeters (14 inches) by 2050, said a report Tuesday by the national weather service. >> Read the Full Article

Australia Lobbies Pacific Nations against Whaling

Australia began a last-ditch attempt to lobby small Pacific Island nations to support whale conservation on Tuesday, warning that every vote at next month's International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting would be crucial. >> Read the Full Article

States Restrict Firewood to Stop Bug

A tiny green beetle that decimates ash trees is nibbling away at traditional summer campfires as states try to halt the insect's spread through infested firewood that campers unwittingly haul into parks. >> Read the Full Article

Study Finds Global Warming Boosts Poison Ivy

Another reason to worry about global warming: more and itchier poison ivy. The noxious vine grows faster and bigger as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rise, researchers report. >> Read the Full Article

Group Advocates Clean-Running School Buses

Diesel fumes have emerged as the new bogeyman in the battle against smog, and more needs to be done to protect children exposed to pollutants in school buses, an environmental group says. >> Read the Full Article