This month, conservationists in the Czech Republic and Kenya launched an audacious bid to save one of the world's rarest animals: the northern white rhinoceros. Four of the last eight known northern whites in the world, two male and two female, were packed into wooden crates and sent from a Czech zoo to Kenya, where scientists hope they will get down to the business of breeding.

The C$16.2 billion ($15.4 billion) Mackenzie pipeline in Canada's Arctic should be allowed to proceed, provided 176 recommendations aimed at securing socioeconomic benefits and minimizing environmental damage are followed, regulators ruled on Wednesday. In a much-anticipated report, the Joint Review Panel said it believed the huge gas project would bring overall benefits to Canada's Northwest Territories and avoid major ecological impact if the oil companies proposing the line and governments follow its list of measures.

Brazil's President introduced national legislation that will guide efforts to reduce projected emissions by 36.1 to 38.9 percent by 2020. This legislation comes on the heels of the COP-15 climate change conference held in Copenhagen earlier this month, and demonstrates Brazilâ??s eagerness to make significant and immediate progress against global climate change.

Six months after state health officials declared their investigation of cancer rates in south suburban Crestwood was almost complete, they have yet to release the results.

Gov. David Paterson and the state Department of Environmental Conservation are being deluged with last-minute lobbying over a document that will set guidelines for natural gas drilling for years to come.

Regulators in West Virginia and other states are overwhelmed as they try to keep tabs on the nation's nearly one million active oil and gas wells, a number that's likely to climb as the feverish growth in natural gas exploration continues.

California scientists hope studying 180 black mussels pried from algae-covered rocks in San Francisco Bay will provide clues into how many drugs and chemicals are polluting waters across the nation.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will miss its third self-imposed deadline on letting consumers know whether it is safe to use products made with bisphenol A, a chemical ingredient in the lining of most food and beverage cans.

The smell of sea salt at the beach is a pleasant thought for many beach goers. Wind and waves kick up spray sending salt (sodium chloride into the air. Most salt of this sort falls back into the sea or nearby beach. The bit of chloride lingering in the air can react with nitrogen oxides (NOx) to form nitryl chloride which is a forerunner of chlorine gas, the most reactive form of chlorine. Those gas can contribute to smog formation in coastal areas. However, in a surprise, researchers have found that this air chemistry thought to be restricted to sea spray occurs at similar rates in the air above Boulder, Colorado which is nearly 900 miles away from any ocean. What's more, local air quality measurements taken in a number of national parks across the United States imply similar conditions in or near other non-coastal metropolitan areas.

Everyone has heard the theories about how to treat the infant in the womb. Talk to the infant in a nice soft voice and he or she will grow to be kind and compassionate. Listen to classical music and the baby will grow to be more intelligent. But is there really any truth behind these theories? Can the same be said for prenatal care for other species? According to a recent report from the University of Cambridge, the answer to both is yes.

When John Kerry introduced the climate bill last September that he co-authored with Barbara Boxer, he heralded action to stop global warming as "one of the most important battles we will ever face, as legislators and as citizens." But after that measure failed to gain traction, Kerry embarked on a new legislative process with Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.)--and now says addressing climate change will be merely a superfluous benefit of passing the legislation that they are expected to introduce any day now.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Kerry suggested that his pollution-cutting plans are only an afterthought. "It's primarily a jobs bill, and an energy independence bill and a pollution reduction-health-clean air bill," said Kerry. "Climate sort of follows. It's on for the ride."

As I reported last week, House members are already more than a little nervous about what a Senate bill might actually look like. Kerry affirmed that his bill may be unrecognizable from what the House passed last summer. "It will be a very different mix of a bill from where we were at the end of the House effort," Kerry said. "It will be simpler, and hopefully, capable of attracting support."

He also insisted that this isn't just a rhetorical shift to abandon the term "cap and trade" that has been successfully demonized by foes. "This has nothing to do with branding … This is a different bill. It will have a different structure,” said Kerry.

There are plenty of questions about whether the senators' alternative measure will be able to meet the same climate goals as previous bills, especially if it ramps up energy incentives (many of which aren't very environmentally friendly) in order to draw additional votes. Supporters have long touted this effort as a comprehensive package that can deliver both the energy and environmental benefits, and most have scaled back expectations on the environmental side as Senate negotiations continue. That Kerry is now dropping the idea that it's a climate bill at all can't be a good sign for where those negotiations are heading.

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HONOLULU— In response to a 2004 petition and two lawsuits from the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that it is finalizing listing for 48 species from the island of Kauai with designation of critical habitat. Most of the species are plants, and many have been waiting decades for protection. Two birds, Akekee (Kauai akepa) and Akikiki (Kauai creeper), were also included.

The California Air Resources Board recently announced that they will begin monitoring and limiting the emissions of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) in high-voltage electrical equipment starting in 2011. SF6 is the most potent of all greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. SF6 is approximately 23,900 times as potent as carbon dioxide, the world’s most prevalent greenhouse gas, at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

A vast network of under-sea volcanoes pumping out nutrient-rich water in the Southern Ocean plays a key role in soaking up large amounts of carbon dioxide, acting as a brake on climate change, scientists say. A group of Australian and French scientists have shown for the first time that the volcanoes are a major source of iron that single-celled plants called phytoplankton need to bloom and in the process soak up CO2, the main greenhouse gas.

The West Coast is about to take part in the biggest rollout of electric cars and charging stations in the world. The first mass-market electric cars go on sale in greater Seattle and Oregon's Willamette Valley at the end of this year. Pollsters are finding high interest in the Northwest in electric cars.

A new paper suggests that wind turbines, installed broadly, might actually change the climate themselves just by disrupting the normal flow of the wind: In a paper published online Feb. 22 in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, [the MIT researchers] Wang and Prinn suggest that using wind turbines to meet 10 percent of global energy demand in 2100 could cause temperatures to rise by one degree Celsius in the regions on land where the wind farms are installed, including a smaller increase in areas beyond those regions. Read more: http://www.good.is/post/could-wind-turbines-actually-warm-the-globe#ixzz0i9u2kXfD