Disasters

"Focused on ERs, the official injury survey missed harms such as hearing loss and depression. Some say the omissions could skew the debate over safety regulation."

"The Obama administration released a comprehensive strategy document Wednesday aimed at reducing wildfires, which it says are being exacerbated by climate change."

"Responding to a series of fiery train derailments, federal regulators said Wednesday they will propose that trains transporting crude oil have at least two-man crews and requirements aimed at preventing parked train cars from coming loose and causing an accident like one in July that killed 47 people."

"Tourists and coastal residents were evacuating parts of the Great Barrier Reef on Thursday as a powerful cyclone intensified in the Coral Sea and made its way towards Australia's northeast."

"The chances have increased over the past month that the much-feared El Nino phenomenon, which has the potential to wreak havoc on global crops, would strike by summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the federal U.S. weather forecaster said Thursday."

"A report released Tuesday describes ongoing difficulties for sea turtles, bottlenose dolphins, brown pelicans, and other species as a result of the Gulf oil spill in 2010."

"One month after the Washington state landslide that killed at least 34, President Obama is planning to survey the destruction firsthand."

"SAN DIEGO – Nearly 80 U.S. sailors are seeking $1 billion from Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, alleging the company lied about the high level of radiation in the area where they were carrying out a humanitarian mission following a tsunami that touched off a nuclear crisis three years ago."

"The chairman of the Senate committee that oversees transportation issues said Monday that oil companies are dragging their feet on providing data to regulators about the safety of freight trains that are used to carry crude oil."

"PORT-DE-PAIX, Haiti -- Only cactus grows along the dirt road fringing arid fields on the way to the isolated village of Bas des Moustiques, on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Port-de-Paix in Haiti."