India city-dwellers criss-cross chest-deep waters to flee or rescue loved ones

CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - Residents clutching babies and food thronged flooded streets in India's Chennai on Friday, braving chest-deep water to reach high ground or heading the other way to rescue relatives still stranded days after overflowing lakes drowned the city.

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Fuel spills from tank in northwest Alaska village: media

(Reuters) - About 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel was spilled as a fuel tank overflowed at a water treatment plant in Kiana, a village in northwest Alaska, news website PeninsulaClarion.com reported on Thursday.

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El Niño monthly indicator reaches level not seen since 1997: NOAA

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A key monthly indicator for El Niño has reached a level not seen since 1997, according to the U.S. weather agency, when the weather pattern caused heavy rains and flooding in parts of South America and severe drought hit crops in Indonesia.

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China says to start claiming compensation from polluters

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The Chinese government plans to begin claiming compensation from polluting companies and individuals, particularly those who damage state property, over the next two years, China's cabinet has said.

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India army on war footing to rescue survivors as flood toll nears 270

CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - The Indian military evacuated more than 2,000 residents stranded in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on Thursday as the death toll from flooding rose to 269 after the heaviest cloudburst in over a century.

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Habitat loss seen as rising threat to world's migratory birds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Habitat destruction along routes taken by the world's migratory birds poses an increasing peril to these long-distance fliers, with a vast majority crossing terrain that nations are inadequately protecting, according to scientists.

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Radiation from Japan nuclear disaster spreads off U.S. shores

PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Radiation from Japan's 2011 nuclear disaster has spread off North American shores and contamination is increasing at previously identified sites, although levels are still too low to threaten human or ocean life, scientists said on Thursday.

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Balkan nations among those hit hardest by climate impacts in 2014: researchers

PARIS (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Three Balkan nations - hard hit by severe flooding - were among the six countries most affected by extreme weather events in 2014, researchers said on Thursday.

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Fuel spills from tank in northwest Alaska village: media

(Reuters) - About 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel was spilled as a fuel tank overflowed at a water treatment plant in Kiana, a village in northwest Alaska, news website PeninsulaClarion.com reported on Thursday.

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