US Senate enviroment committee pledges new climate-change legislation (Alaska Public Radio Network) The chairwoman of the US Senate Committee on the Environment, Democrat Barbara Boxer of California is pledging to have new global-warming legislation before the end of the year. Boxer announced her goals for combating climate change earlier this week. Libby Casey, APRN - Washington, DC Download Audio [News Source]

Sea levels would rise unevenly as ice sheet melts, study says. The collapse of the massive ice sheet covering West Antarctica has always been a nightmare scenario of global warming. But a Canadian-led research team has made an unusual discovery about what will happen if the ice melts: Not all coastlines would be affected equally. [News Source]

Climate Change: Fishery-dependent nations to be hit hard. With climate change threatening to alter salt-water habitats and produce more coastal storms, millions of struggling people in fishery-dependent nations of Africa could face unprecedented hardship, according to a new study. [News Source]

Something in the wind as mystery illnesses rise. Residents living near wind turbines are increasingly complaining of headaches, dizziness, insomnia and other ailments, sparking fears that the new energy source could pose a risk to public health. [News Source]

Commercial fishing is barred in parts of Arctic. Federal fisheries managers have voted to bar all commercial fishing in U.S. waters from north of the Bering Strait and east to the Canadian border in light of the rapid climate changes that are transforming the Arctic. [News Source]

Scientists warn of acid’s corrosive effect on shellfish. Experts at a symposium on climate change testified yesterday to a number of scenarios that could strike Massachusetts as oceans rise and warm, but one stood out. [News Source]

Fish-dependent countries face climate change threat: study. Climate change poses a grave threat to dozens of countries where people depend on fish for food, according to a study published Friday that said catches are imperilled by coastal storms and damage to coral reefs. [News Source]

China battles worsening drought. China's leaders ordered emergency measures to battle one of the country's worst droughts in decades--which is threatening to damage nearly a fifth of China's wheat harvest and millions of livestock. [News Source]

Antarctic ice sheet collapse may swamp U.S. coasts. North America's coastlines would be hit especially hard by rising sea levels if the huge West Antarctic Ice Sheet collapses and melts in a warming world as some experts fear, scientists said on Thursday. [News Source]

Australia braces for major heatwave, bushfires. Southeast Australia is bracing for a major heatwave which could cause the worst bushfires for decades, and nursing homes have been warned to prepare for the searing heat after several deaths during a heatwave last week. [News Source]

Fires threaten Australian cities, alert issued. Firefighters with aircraft and thermal imaging equipment tackled bushfires in and near Australia's two largest cities late on Friday as the country's densely populated southeast braced for a major heatwave. [News Source]