National (U.S.)

"Two newspapers produced excellent series in August that scrutinized climate crises related to having too little water, and too much, in their respective regions. The Kansas City Star took on the toll of the severe drought afflicting the Great Plains, while The News Journal in Wilmington, DE, examined impacts of sea-level rise in the Mid-Atlantic. The series share many admirable characteristics. In fact, both opened with the same characterization of a creeping but inexorable dilemma."

"Labor Day is summer’s last hurrah, and families from across the country will be flocking to the beach this weekend to soak in some final rays. Beachgoers on the East Coast making their way to Cape Cod or one of six other National Seashores, however, might want to pause and take an extra look around at the wind-tossed dunes and sloping sands. Not just because summer is coming to an end, but because these areas are some of the most susceptible to the effects of climate change and may look very different, very soon."

"Over the past four years, the Republican Party has undergone a fairly dramatic shift in its approach to energy and environmental issues. Global warming has disappeared entirely from the party’s list of concerns. Clean energy has become an afterthought. Fossil fuels loom larger than ever. And one way to see this shift clearly is to compare the party’s 2008 and 2012 platforms."

"The Obama Administration [Thursday] gave Shell approval to prepare for oil drilling in environmentally fragile Chukchi Sea off Alaska although a critical oil spill containment vessel has not been certified. Shell will be permitted to start 'certain limited preparatory activities' for drilling off Alaska’s northwest coast, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters."

"Torrential rainfall from Hurricane Isaac hurt rice, cotton, soybean and sugar cane crops in the Deep South, but elsewhere the storm will bring relief to American farmers suffering from the worst drought in more than 50 years, an agricultural meteorologist said on Thursday."

"Louisiana officials on Thursday ordered people along the Tangipahoa River between the towns of Kentwood and Robert to evacuate due to the expected failure of a dam in Mississippi that was damaged by Tropical Storm Isaac."

"Before the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed 40 years ago, early New Englanders had nearly hunted seals to death. They wanted them for their furs and to keep them from eating cod. Massachusetts even paid bounties on seals: $5 per nose. The act has helped gray seals and harbor seals recolonize New England waters, but fishermen off the coast of Cape Cod say they have become a nuisance."

"West Nile virus cases nationally were up 40% from last week, now totaling 1,590, including 66 deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday."

"Two U.S. health and environment organizations sued the federal government on Wednesday for what the groups say is a failure to implement and enforce a new food safety law that could help prevent thousands of deaths caused by food-borne illnesses each year."

"The G.O.P. platform approved Tuesday in Florida included tough language on many expected issues like abortion, but also takes a stand on an issue that has historically been out of the party’s mainstream: Agenda 21."