An environment is a complex of surrounding circumstances, conditions, or influences in which a thing is situated or is developed, or in which a person or organism lives, modifying and determining its life or character.

• In biology, ecology, and environmental science, an environment is the complex of physical, chemical, and biotic factors that surround and act upon an organism or ecosystem.

• The natural environment is such an environment that is relatively unaffected by human activity.
  • environmentalism is a concern with the preservation of the natural environment, especially from human pollution, and the ethics and politics associated with this.

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USATODAY.com Nation - Top Stories

Hanna dumps heavy rain in N.Y., New England
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 10:51:47 -0000
Tropical Storm Hanna accelerated toward New England on Saturday after the storm's whipping winds and rain didn't linger long ...
7 years on, Sept. 11 is so far and yet so close
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:29:35 -0000
It is not a tidy anniversary this year. Seven years between that awful day and this Sept. 11, the terrorist attacks linger somewhere ...
Powerful Hurricane Ike looms as trouble for Gulf
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:10:52 -0000
Powerful Hurricane Ike rolled down an uncertain path Sunday that may lead to the U.S. Gulf Coast late this week, forcing emergency ...
Raising grandchildren an extra burden for many
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 05:00:00 -0000
An estimated 2.5 million U.S. grandparents are responsible for the basic needs of one or more grandchildren who live with them, ...
Gustav victims face insurance worries
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:14:55 -0000
As victims of Hurricane Gustav's fury turn to their insurance companies for help in recovering from the wind and water inflicted ...
House explosion kills 2 in Chicago suburb
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:18:53 -0000
An explosion destroyed a house early Saturday and the bodies of the elderly couple who occupied the home were found in the wreckage, ...

The Economist: United States

Examining Alaska (1): From pork to petrodollars
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
Sarah Palin’s home state is awash with moneyJOHN MCCAIN’S decision to anoint Sarah Palin as his running-mate looks eccentric for many reasons. Not the least is economic principle. Thanks in part to Mrs Palin, Alaska’s economy is built on two things that Mr McCain has spent the last few years railing against.The first is federal spending, especially the little-scrutinised grants known as earmarks. Between 1996 and 2006 per-capita federal spending in Alaska rose from 38% above the national average to 71% above. Scott Goldsmith, an economist, reckons a third of all jobs in the state depend on it. So needy are the citizens of the “last frontier” that the looming trial of Ted Stevens, Alaska’s senior senator and champion pork-rustler, for failing to disclose gifts is viewed not just as a political scandal but also as an economic threat. ...
The Republican convention: The maverick and the hockey mom
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
Republicans are more fired up than before, but less so than DemocratsBEFORE Barack Obama’s big open-air speech in Denver last week, some Christian conservatives prayed for rain. That was in poor taste. But this is a competitive election, and anything the right can do, the left can do better. When the news came that a hurricane might strike New Orleans during the Republican convention in St Paul, Minnesota this week, Michael Moore, a film-maker, said it was “proof that there is a God in heaven”. Another calamitous storm, you see, would remind people how ineptly George Bush dealt with Hurricane Katrina three years ago and spur them to vote Democratic. The first day of the convention, September 1st, was all but cancelled—though, in the end, the hurricane was less destructive than had been feared (see article). That left three days for Republicans to achieve three goals. They needed to distance John McCain from Mr Bush, to introduce Sarah Palin (Mr McCain’s surprise vice-presidential pick) to voters and to denigrate Mr Obama. Strangely, Hurricane Gustav may have helped. The storm gave Mr Bush a good reason to stay away on the first day. During a brief video link-up, he generously stressed the times Mr McCain has disagreed with him. ...
Ron Paul’s campaign: Another old Republican
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
A boisterous alternative convention targets NAFTA and the FedHIS movements were monitored by Republican organisers, and his supporters were muzzled at the Republican convention. Michael Moore, a rabble-rousing lefty film-maker? A surrogate for Barack Obama? No: Ron Paul, a Republican congressman. His campaign for restoring limited government did not win him the Republican nomination for president. But it did earn him a legion of adoring fans who gathered for a huge counter-convention in Minneapolis, across the river from the official Republican convention in St Paul, in a 15,000-seat basketball arena.In the arena, the fans booed mentions of John McCain and George Bush. But they boisterously cheered the names of Friedrich Hayek and Murray Rothbard, libertarian economists from decades past. Any favourable mention of guns or the constitution won cheers; but hard words for the Iraq war gained the biggest roars of approval, and speaker after speaker hit themes of personal responsibility and small government. ...
Lexington: The woman from nowhere
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
John McCain’s choice of running-mate raises serious questions about his judgmentTHE most audacious move of the race so far is also, potentially, the most self-destructive. John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running-mate has set the political atmosphere alight with both enthusiasm and dismay. Mr McCain has based his campaign on the idea that this is a dangerous world—and that Barack Obama is too inexperienced to deal with it. He has also acknowledged that his advanced age—he celebrated his 72nd birthday on August 29th—makes his choice of vice-president unusually important. Now he has chosen as his running mate, on the basis of the most cursory vetting, a first-term governor of Alaska. ...
Examining Alaska (2): The challenger
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
Running against a senator who is about to stand trial is harder than it looksSINCE being elected mayor of Anchorage in 2003, Mark Begich has acquired a reputation for getting things done. On his watch a shiny new convention centre has gone up. Roads are being repaired and heating elements laid under pavements to melt snow during the long Alaskan winter. Miraculously, much of this has been paid for by bonds, not federal earmarks. On August 26th Mr Begich sailed through a primary election. Now all he has to do is defeat a man who will soon go on trial for failing to report gifts from oil companies and he will become Alaska’s first Democratic senator for 28 years. Four out of every ten Alaskans live in Anchorage, so Mr Begich has a strong base of support. He also has a good surname: his father, Nick Begich, was a popular congressman who disappeared in 1972 while flying in a small plane. Best of all, Mr Begich is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Woe betide any Alaskan politician who stands in the way of guns and oil. ...
Hurricane Gustav: Could have been worse
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:35 -0000
New Orleans dodges another natural disasterBY THE time Nathan Reese realised that New Orleans was really being evacuated, his neighbours in St Bernard parish had already cleared out. He scraped up enough money to buy an old car, which he filled with his girlfriend, their newborn son, a cat, three kittens, and whatever clothing they could grab. It was a miserable trip. Traffic crawled. The car had no air-conditioning and it overheated. At one point Mr Reese had to sneak into a hotel outside Houston to get some ice to put on the baby. On September 2nd, the day after Hurricane Gustav made landfall, the family were sitting in a patch of shade outside an emergency shelter in Austin, unsure of their next move. “All I know is we lost everything and we’re trying to get gas so we can get up out of here,” said Mr Reese. When Gustav formed in the Caribbean late last month, much of the Gulf coast girded for disaster. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and part of Texas were put under hurricane watch. The National Guard was activated. Emergency shelters were set up all over the South. But the biggest worry was for New Orleans. Forecasters said that Gustav was heading directly for it and would probably arrive as a Category 3 hurricane. The city is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina, which hit Louisiana as a Category 3 storm three years ago and led to at least 1,600 deaths. Officials were frantic to avoid another such catastrophe. They were also keen, especially at federal level, to show that they had learnt from the last time. ...

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