In The News / Jul 31

• China's industrial accidents quietly on the rise.

  While the country's economic boom has always been dogged by environmental and safety hazards, the frequency of disasters this summer has raised new questions about whether the country can maintain its pace of expansion without doing catastrophic harm to its people and the environment. Time Magazine

• Prospect of pumping oil from Beaufort back in deep freeze.

  In the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, the prospect of pumping oil in the Beaufort has gone back into the deep freeze, and critics say it should stay there until further research is done on the risks of an Arctic spill. Postmedia News

• Russia calls in army as fires escalate.

  Russia called in the army on Friday to combat fires sweeping across the drought-stricken European part of the country and forcing thousands of people to flee. London Financial Times, United Kingdom

• Global warming signs unmistakable, report says.

  A new report by 300 scientists has flagged the past decade as the hottest on record and compiled 10 "unmistakable" indicators that the world is getting warmer. CBC Canada

• Flood deaths pass 400 in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

  More than 400 people have been killed and 400,000 displaced by monsoon flooding in Pakistan and Afghanistan. BBC

• Restoring the paradise that Saddam destroyed.

  Saddam Hussein drained the unique wetlands of southern Iraq as a punishment to the region's Marsh Arabs who had backed an uprising. Two decades later, one courageous US Iraqi is leading efforts to restore the marshes. Not even exploding bombs can deter him from his dream. Der Spiegel

• From fires to fish, heat wave batters Russia.

  All week long, temperatures have been soaring to records, and on Thursday, they reached a new high for Moscow, 100 degrees. July has been the hottest month since the city began taking such measurements 130 years ago, officials said. New York Times

• Gulf of Mexico has long been a sink of pollution.

  The gulf is one of the most diverse ecosystems in the hemisphere, home to abundant wildlife and natural resources. But like no other American body of water, the gulf bears the environmental consequences of the country’s economic pursuits and appetites, including oil and corn. New York Times

• Chemicals in rivers linked to sexual changes in fish, researchers say.

  Alberta researchers say gender-bending fish swimming in the province’s southern rivers raise serious questions about whether the water is safe for people to drink. Canadian Press

• House rejects bill to aid sick 9/11 responders.

  A bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to people sickened by World Trade Center dust fell short in the House on Thursday, raising the possibility that the bulk of compensation for the ill will come from a legal settlement hammered out in the federal courts. Associated Press

• Trussville parents say tainted water at Camp Lejeune, N.C., caused childrens' brain cancer.

  A tainted water supply at the military base at Camp Lejeune, N.C., caused brain cancer in the two children of a Trussville couple, a federal lawsuit filed last week alleges. Birmingham News, Alabama

• New database shows oilsands pollution slow, steady drip: scientist.

  A new database that compiles thousands of government and industry records on Alberta's oilsands lays out in painstaking detail how the industry is a constant source of low-level pollution to the area's land, air and water, says the scientist who pulled it all together. Canadian Press

• Texas proposes new rules for shale gas drilling.

  Texas environmental regulators have formally proposed beefing up regulations on oil and gas drilling, in an attempt to reduce air pollution caused when companies use new technology to extract natural gas trapped in deep shales. Associated Press