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pollution

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Pollution problem in Uganda leads to explosion in scavenger stork population

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Uganda has a trash problem. Basically, it doesn't get rid of it. So that's been a boon to the Marabou stork population, which thrives off of garbage and scraps. So that trash problem, which is still there, has morphed into a bird problem. Scientists say the only way to solve it is to take out the trash.
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Scientists turn to dogs to track, protect endangered animals

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Tracking endangered animals is a tough task. But some scientists from Washington state have an unlikely ally in highly trained, and hyper-active, dogs. The animals smell out skat, which the scientists can then analyze to make determinations about the health of a species in a given area.
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New research links ADHD diagnosis with childhood mercury, lead exposure

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Canada's Inuit population in Quebec has among the highest levels of exposure to mercury and lead as any population around the world. Scientists have been studying their children since this became known and recently concluded that children with higher levels of contamination are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD.
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Iceland's president weighs in on impact of rapidly disappearing Arctic ice

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Iceland is in a unique position as far as the changing global environment. The northern country not only sees the melting ice, but also has a front-row seat for the effort to convert to a clean-energy economy. Iceland uses clean energy for virtually all of its electricity and heating.
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New research discovers high levels of caffeine in surprising areas of ocean, rivers

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A group of scientists in the Pacific Northwest have been looking into where caffeine accumulates in our national water system. They found it not in areas of high population, but in areas with low population, where septic systems are the primary means of waste disposal.
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U.S. launches program to clean up Vietnam-era Agent Orange contamination

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The United States used millions of gallons of Agent Orange herbicide across Vietnam during the war there, in an effort to destroy the foliage that was giving its enemies cover. But, in the process, it contaminated the soil with dioxin and other chemicals that have persisted and continue to cause birth defects and health problems to this day.
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Two-year-old Michigan oil spill still not completely cleaned up, yields large fine

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Just months after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, another oil spill hit the United States, this one in Michigan. But the clean-up for this one has been long, involved and convoluted. The still ongoing effort led the EPA recently to levy one of its biggest fines relating to an oil spill, some $3.7 million.
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At Rio+20 Summit, little actual disappointment over lack of progress

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As the global economic crisis has consumed more and more time and attention, focus on the global warming crisis has waned. So it wasn't surprising when President Barack Obama chose not to attend the Rio+20 conference this week in Brazil, and it also was unsurprising when there was little progress reported there.
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New study finds greater risk of wildfires in U.S. from climate change; others see decline

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A new study out of Texas Tech University found that all corners of the world aren't in fact equal in terms of how climate change will alter the risk for wildfires. In fact, while the United States will see -- and is seeing -- an increase in wildfires, other parts of the world are in line to see their wildfires decrease.
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As ocean gets more acidic, situation is exacerbated in Puget Sound

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The carbon dioxide we release is absorbed by the Earth's oceans. But it doesn't just benignly vanish. It's eventually released into the water, making the water more acidic. That's feeding algae blooms and killing some animals. In the Puget Sound, the situation is even worse.
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