http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/09/03/Farmland-comes-at-expense-of-forests/UPI-45821283554981/

Deforestation is one the biggest contributors to a warming planet.

More than 80 percent of the new farmland created in the tropics since 1980 has come from felling forests, which drives global warming, researchers say.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/09/02/Computers-predicted-Gulf-oil-movement/UPI-95271283473724/

Scientists in California say they were successful in predicting the spread of oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill and when and where it would wash ashore.

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, used computer models to describe how slicks of oil tend to be stretched into filaments by motion at the sea surface, a university release said.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org//display/web/2010/09/01/pm-toxic-gases-found-in-well-water-close-to-drilling-sites/

Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," may be a boon for the energy industry, but critics are questioning if the process that frees up more gas and oil in the ground is poisoning well water.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/08/31/New-water-filter-may-help-developing-world/UPI-83491283297803/

U.S. researchers using nanotechnology say they've created a high-speed, low-cost filter that could be used to purify drinking water the in developing world. 

Scientists at Stanford University dipped plain cotton cloth in a high-tech solution of silver nanowires and carbon nanotubes to create a filter that kills rather than traps harmful pathogens, a university release says.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15936268

After capturing a bird Greg Wann collects a blood sample. (DP | HELEN H. RICHARDSON)

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK — Amid concerns that climate change will reshape Colorado's high country, Colorado State University ecologist Greg Wann is on a tough mission: tracking ptarmigans, the elusive mountain birds known for their camouflage.

The conditions he faces trudging after them here at 12,100 feet — sharp rocks, icy wind, a merciless sun — are daunting even during summer.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2014101,00.html

The water is blue and warm, the visibility is perfect. There might be no better place in the world to learn to scuba dive than the glassy seas around Key West, at the southernmost tip of the U.S. As I gradually master my buoyancy and hover 15 feet below the surface, I can see schools of small yellow groupers gathered beneath the dive boat, giving wide berth to a blade of a barracuda. A spiny lobster shyly crawls across the seafloor. This colorful diversity of life — like swimming through a tropical aquarium — is all thanks to the shallow coral reefs that exist west of Key West. The world's reefs are the bases for sea life — home to a quarter of all the fish on the planet.

A snorkeler swims past an elkhorn coral on a coral reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary near Key West, Fla. Wilfredo Lee / AP

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/deadly-bear-attacks-rise/story?id=11499044

Hungry Bears in Yellowstone Put Hikers, Campers and Themselves at Risk.

(Paul Souders/Getty Images)

With permanent food sources becoming more and more scarce, the grizzly truth is more bears are likely to hunt for food around your campsite. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/lee_hotz_inside_an_antarctic_time_machine.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2010-08-24

Science columnist Lee Hotz describes a remarkable project at WAIS Divide, Antarctica, where a hardy team are drilling into ten-thousand-year-old ice to extract vital data on our changing climate.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/23/AR2010082303608.html?wpisrc=nl_headline

E-readers are everywhere, even at my local library. But what about the trees? You told us about reading the newspaper online vs. getting the print edition, so now tell us about e-books. Does reading on my Kindle represent a win for the environment?

Environmental analysis can be an endless balancing of this vs. that. Do you care more about conserving water or avoiding toxic chemical usage? Minimizing carbon dioxide emissions or radioactive nuclear waste? But today the Lantern has good news: There will be no Sophie's Choice when it comes to e-books. As long as you consume a healthy number of titles, you read at a normal pace and you don't trade in your gadget every year, perusing electronically will lighten your environmental impact.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/22/AR2010082202955.html?wpisrc=nl_headline

Utilities across the country are building dozens of old-style coal plants that will cement the industry's standing as the largest industrial source of climate-changing gases for years to come.