Ice on Greenland is melting four times faster than it did just 16 years ago, a study reports. The melting, which is a result of the Earth's warming atmosphere and oceans, is happening much faster than
At least 18 more levees on the already flooded Mississippi River are at high risk of being overwhelmed this weekend, endangering small communities and farmland where decades-old flood protections are far below modern-day guidelines. At least half of the 31 levees already breached or topped between southern Iowa and St. Louis were not built to handle a flood of such historic proportions, according to a USA TODAY review of data from the Army Corps of Engineers. Many of those were built at least 30 years ago, and some date to the 1940s.
Hundreds of nuclear missile components in the U.S. arsenal cannot be located, the Financial Times reports, citing unpublicized details from a Pentagon report. One official put the number of missing parts at more than 1,000. The disclosure follows two nuclear blunders in the past year: the shipment of nuclear missile cones to Taiwan, and the cross-country flight of a bomber carrying nuclear warheads. Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired two top Air Force official who were blamed for the Taiwan screw-up.
If you think the weather is getting more extreme, you're right
Human waste overflows, fertilizer runoff and floating propane tanks are raising concerns in the flooded Midwest but should not cause severe or long-term environmental problems, health officials say. Serious chemical pollution from factories and chemical plants "aren't concerns because we don't have many reports, just isolated cases and leaks," said Karen Timberlake, Wisconsin's secretary of Health and Family Services.
Public health threats rise to the surface during a flood like the one in the Midwest with animal waste runoff from farms and overflowing city sewer lines. But people are usually smart enough to avoid what can make them sick, experts say. For example, the 1993 floods in the same region produced no illnesses from contaminated water despite the worries of floating waste, said Nancy Hall, a public health microbiologist at the University of Iowa's University Hygienic Laboratory in Iowa City.
The country's largest organization of doctors Tuesday refused to challenge a controversial tobacco bill that would ban many flavor additives in cigarettes sold in the United States but exempt menthol flavoring. Under a bill before Congress that gives control of tobacco products to the Food and Drug Administration, flavor additives such as mint, clove and vanilla, which appeal to young people, would be banned, but menthol flavoring would be allowed. Menthol is preferred by more than 75% of black smokers, according to government estimates. Fewer than 25% of whites smoke it.
The White House on Tuesday directed four agencies to develop yardsticks for charting changes in the amount and quality of the nation's water. Clay Johnson, a deputy director of the White House budget office, said various indicators would be used to evaluate whether environmental policies and programs are working. "We currently lack consistent information on the environment and natural resources to analyze national trends," he said in a statement.
There were 1,313 cases of polio last year. So far this year, there have been 558 cases. Here is a list of countries that have reported polio this year: India: 258 Nigeria: 247 Angola: 12 Pakistan: 11 Niger: 9 Afghanistan: 8 Chad: 4 Nepal: 3 Democratic Republic of the Congo: 2 Benin: 1 Central African Republic: 1 Ethiopia: 1 Sudan: 1 Note: As of June 10 Source: Global Polio Eradication Initiative Yahoo! Buzz Digg Newsvine Reddit FacebookWhat's this?By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY
