Drought report pushes alarm bells. Farmers and the Government have reacted with alarm to a new joint report from CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, which indicates that hot periods and low rainfall years which have occurred every 20 years may become much more frequent. — CSIRO

Oil spills brought to life. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has an interactive map on their website where you can see oil spills throughout the world from 1968 to present. Yan jump from each oil spill incident each year to a detailed description of the spill. — NOAA Incident Map

Iraq boosts security with solar power. Iraq has turned to solar-powered lights to boost Baghdad security. Solar-powered streetlights are going up on major Baghdad thoroughfares, in an effort to improve security in a country where there is never enough electricity to go around. — Yale Environment 360

Climate pain ahead for folk in the ‘kidney stone belt’. If G8 members, who recently agreed to carbon reductions that some consider lax, knew about one painful potential outcome of climate change, they might have demanded deeper cuts. A research paper suggests that rising temperatures will result in kidney stones striking up to 2.25 million more Americans per year by 2050. — New Scientist