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Environment and nature

China is top dam builder, going where others won't
Up a sweeping jungle valley in a remote corner of Cambodia, Chinese engineers and workers are raising a 100-meter- (330-foot-) high dam over the ...
Source of persistent Gulf sheen remains a mystery
Officials say underwater inspections at the site of BP's Deepwater Horizon rig disaster have failed to identify the source of a persistent sheen on ...
Ecuador volcano blasts lava high above crater
Volcano monitors say Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano shot lava a half mile (1 kilometer) above its crater overnight and blasted hot rock and gas nearly ...
Solar boosts German renewable energy in 2012
German utilities say this year's share of renewable energies in the country's electricity production is forecast to rise some 15 percent on the year, ...
High winds, mountain snows hits Northwest
The strongest Northwest storm of the season blew in early Monday on winds that gusted to more than 80 mph on the coast, knocking out power in places ...
Bird flu kills 4-year-old boy in Indonesia
A 4-year-old Indonesian boy has died from bird flu, bringing the death toll to 160 in the country hardest-hit by the deadly virus, a health official ...
Oil, gas drilling rile West's energy embrace
This used to be a land proud of its oil barons. Now the energy industry that has brought wealth and jobs across the interior West is prompting angry ...
Chevron offers to settle Brazil spill lawsuits
Brazilian prosecutors say Chevron Corp. has offered to pay $150 million to settle two civil lawsuits stemming from an offshore oil spill. The lawsuits ...
Brazil forest protection turns to digital world
Landowners who broke Brazil's environmental laws by clearing their farms of native forest used to have just one way to make right with government ...
Conservationists team up with ranchers, loggers
Two cowboys on horses pushed cattle across an expanse of golden hills overgrown with tall grasses and oak trees, up an unpaved road toward another ...
EPA tightens standards for soot pollution
In its first major regulation since the election, the Obama administration on Friday imposed a new air quality standard that reduces by 20 percent the ...
Column: How to stitch your tongue at sea
One sailor used sandpaper to gingerly file down his broken molar before capping the aching stump with epoxy resin. But no one — at least not yet — has ...
AP-GfK Poll: Science doubters say world is warming
A growing majority of Americans think global warming is occurring, that it will become a serious problem and that the U.S. government should do ...
Famed French mountaineer Maurice Herzog dies at 93
France loved him for his indefatigable, pioneering spirit — the first man to climb an 8,000-meter Himalayan peak despite losing all his fingers and ...
More flooding on 2nd day of CA 'king tides'
King tides swelled again Friday along the Southern California coast but only minor flooding was reported in a few areas. Television news reports ...
NYC artists seek help to scrub away Sandy's stains
Superstorm Sandy was not kind to the arts community. It not only upended paintings, equipment, tools and paper, turning them into tangled and soggy ...
California sees unusually high 'king tides'
Seawater spread into several low-lying communities along the California coast Thursday morning as unusually high "king tides" pulled the Pacific Ocean ...
Gas shortage exposes Pakistan's energy crisis
It has become a familiar sight across Pakistan in recent weeks: Long lines of cars and minibuses snaking for hundreds of yards as their frustrated ...
A look at California's very high 'king tides'
Seawater floods highways and low-lying communities near California beaches. The cause: so-called "king tides" pulling the Pacific Ocean farther ashore ...
Huge DNA code of the Christmas tree being revealed
To millions of people, the Christmas tree is a cheerful sight. To scientists who decipher the DNA codes of plants and animals, it's a monster.
AP music writers' top 10 albums of the year
Mesfin Fekadu's picks: 1. Nas, "Life is Good": "I am a graphic classic song composer," Nas raps on the intro to his latest album. And he's right.
GOP decries looming 'regulatory cliff' in new term
While the "fiscal cliff" of looming tax increases and spending cuts dominates political conversation in Washington, some Republicans and business ...
Chilean town shaken by reminders of deadly quake
One jolt hit in the middle of the night. Another caught fishermen at a nearby beach. Then the ground shook at supper. And then again, and again: More ...
UK gov't gives approval to resume fracking
Britain's government has given the go-ahead to resume fracking — the controversial practice of drilling for gas trapped in shale — in the U.K..
EPA finds contamination at former rocket test site
Lingering radioactive contamination exists at a former rocket test lab outside of Los Angeles that was the site of a partial nuclear meltdown, federal ...