Costa Rica Tops 'Green and Happy' List; US 114th

(NEWSER) - Waterfalls are a prime tourist destination, and for good reason. Travel + Leisure runs down a list of the “world’s most spectacular,” but check before you go. Visit in the wrong season and you’ll see just a trickle. And dams can turn off the spectacle in a second.

• Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe: Even the mist clouds create "a natural spectacle."
• Angel Falls, Venezuela: The "undisputed tallest waterfall in the world" is visible only after a long slog to a viewing point.

(NEWSER) - President Obama and PM Stephen Harper today announced an environmental partnership between the US and Canada, the Globe and Mail reports. Harper spoke of a “clean energy dialogue” between top officials to “collaborate on the development of clean energy science and technology.” Said Obama, who was making his first trip out of the country since taking office: “We are so closely linked that we have a tendency to take our relationship for granted.” More»

Poorest will be hit hardest

(NEWSER) - Expect floods, droughts, fires—and resulting starvation, conflict, and mass migration—as climate change becomes more pronounced, says a U.N. report released today. And expect the poor to get hit the hardest, as deserts get drier, deltas flood more often, and small islands are overwhelmed. More»

Researchers now able to distinguish new, old sources of methane

(NEWSER) - There are huge quantities of methane locked in ice sheets around the world, threatening to speed up climate change as they get released in melting ice. But determining which methane is the ancient kind and which is much younger and hails from, say, plant life that has decayed in lakes hasn't been easy—until now. The BBC reports that researchers have been able to ID the former by logging the ratio of different isotopes of carbon found in the methane molecules. Scientists were then able to test some of the 150,000 sites in Alaska and Greenland where methane is seeping into the atmosphere, and found that some are indeed releasing ancient methane. More»

Paul Watson faces charges in decade-old incident

(NEWSER) - A leading anti-whaling activist has been arrested in Germany. Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, was busted on Saturday over a 2002 clash with a Costa Rican "illegal shark finning operation" off Guatemala, the group says in a statement. The group says the warrant is tied to an "alleged violation of ships traffic"; other reports say Watson is also wanted for attempted murder in the showdown, the BBC notes. More»