Emissions standards tightened. The EPA yesterday tightened emissions standards for new gasoline-powered lawn mowers, weed trimmers and boat engines--reducing the amount of smog-causing pollution these motors will be allowed to emit. [News Source]

As climate changes, will patterns of disease shift as well? Are recent outbreaks of typhus, whooping cough and West Nile Virus in Texas stand-alone events, or are these signals of broader changes in disease patterns driven by a warming climate? [News Source]

Sea level rise by 2100 ‘below 2m’. Sea levels globally are very unlikely to rise by more than 2m (7ft) this century, scientists conclude. [News Source]

GM plans to dump use of landfills. In an attempt to green up the planet, and its image, General Motors will confirm today plans to make half of its 181 plants worldwide "landfill-free" by the end of 2010. [News Source]

Storm’s predicted downpour, winds have officials on alert. Virginia declared a state of emergency, Maryland made a "pre-disaster" declaration, and District officials worked out the city's storm plan as the region continued preparing for Tropical Storm Hanna. [News Source]

Menace of Ike frays nerves. After unexpectedly powering up from a tropical storm to Category 4 strength in just 12 hours on Wednesday and sustaining that through Thursday, Hurricane Ike is being closely watched by forecasters and coastal residents as it churns west across the Atlantic. [News Source]

New Orleans resident returns home. All Things Considered has followed New Orleans resident Sharon White since Hurricane Katrina. She talks about life in the city after Katrina and about Hurricane Gustav. [News Source]

Asian pollution could spur U.S., European warming. Pollution from Asian power plants, cooking and heating could create summer hot spots in the central United States and southern Europe by mid-century, U.S. climate scientists reported on Thursday. [News Source]

Feds warn climate change could harm giant sequoias. Warming temperatures and longer, harsher fire seasons could kill off California's giant sequoias, federal researchers warned Thursday. [News Source]

Climate change threatens Kakadu National Park. Tourism in the Northern Territory will be hard hit by climate change, in particular the wetlands of Kakadu National Park, researchers say. [News Source]

Climate change hits NT tourism hard. Tourism in the Northern Territory will be hard hit by climate change, in particular the wetlands of Kakadu National Park, researchers say. [News Source]