Here are some of the latest news stories regarding water in the environment:

A turning point for mountaintop removal?: Mountain top removal involves blasting away the tops of mountains in order to reach the coal underneath. The waste then ends up in local bodies of water causing pollution and health problems for surrounding communities. The Environmental Protection Agency has finally taken significant action this week to hault this disasterous mining method by vetoing a permit for the largest mountaintop removal operation in West Virginia history.

Scientists See Climate Change Link To Australian Floods : “Climate change has likely intensified the monsoon rains that have triggered record floods in Australia’s Queensland state, scientists said on Wednesday, with several months of heavy rain and storms still to come.”

Climate Patterns to Help Predict the Next Big Flood? : “Large flooding events, like the deadly Pakistan flood last summer, will be predictable with the next generation of climate-forecasting models, according to scientists.”

Villagers try to catch floating trees in floodwater in Pakistan, July 2010

Red Cross Uses Solar-Powered Pumps to Increase Water Access in Sudan : The Red Cross has started a project in Southeast Sudan that “will be able to supply 10 liters of water a day for people, as well as provide water for a school, hospital, several new administrative buildings, and other distribution points used by both people and livestock.”

Tougher Rules Urged for Offshore Drilling: Releasing its final report, the presidential panel investigating the gulf oil spill “found that the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill arose from a preventable series of corporate and regulatory failures. It warned that unless industry practices and government regulation improved, another such accident was inevitable.”

A round up of a few news stories about water and the environment from all over the world.

South Pakistan villagers flee threatened areas: Hundreds of thousands of flood-affected villagers from the devastated southern region are fleeing for fear of more flooding. Click here to help victims who have lost their homes.

A question of water in Pakistan: Floods in Pakistan are a matter of war and peace. This insight into what the floods in Pakistan will mean for the future of the country and the region is worth a read.

Fashion Tries on Zero Waste Design: Currently 15-20% of scraps discarded while designing clothes end up in the landfill. Fashion designers in New York are trying to reduce all that waste in an innovative way that will hopefully catch on.

"Nearly 104,000 people are crammed onto an island about a square mile in size."-MSNBC

Rising ocean levels threaten Maldives: An interesting and informative slideshow of photos outlining the problem of overpopulation and environmental degradation on one tiny island in the Indian Ocean

Ocean census reveals what lies beneath the waves: Marine biologists in Japan and Australia reveal the findings of a ten-year study to discover new species of ocean life. The dragon fish they found looks as cool as it sounds AND it has teeth on its tongue.

In what UN experts are calling the worst flood in 80 years, over 4 million Pakistanis have been affected by the devastating natural disaster ripping through the north-west region of the country right now. The death toll is rising as people lack access to clean water, food and shelter. International aid agencies are swooping in to help those who have just watched their livelihoods, families, and ancestral land swept away in an instant. But the rains continue and disaster relief is still desperately needed- and that’s where you come in. Tonic.com has compiled the following list of organizations that are on the ground in Pakistan and that ask for support in their rescue efforts. I have included the list here in hopes that readers will respond to this appeal for emergency aid in flood-ravaged Pakistan.

• Hillary Clinton announced Wednesday that Americans could text the word “SWAT” to the number 50555 to donate $10 per SMS message to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to provide tents, clothing, food, clean water and medicine to Pakistan.

• American Red Cross seeks to raise $100,000 to aid its Pakistan equivalent — Pakistan Red Crescent — with teams on the ground providing food, other relief items and medical care. To donate, go to their website.

• UNICEF is providing help with water, sanitation, health and nutrition for displaced children and families. To donate, please click here.

• Stamford, Conn.-based AmeriCares is sending medical and other aid to the hardest-hit areas of the flood. Readers can donate through the AmeriCares website.

• CARE needs donations for its health teams, mobile clinics and distribution of food, which will help 100,000 flood victims. To donate, go to their website.

• Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres is providing water, sanitation help, hygiene kits, cooking utensils and other items to Pakistanis. Doctors Without Borders has also prepared itself to care for patients in case of cholera outbreaks. To donate to Doctors Without Borders, give to its emergency fund.

• The International Rescue Committee, founded by Albert Einstein in 1933, is on the ground assessing the disaster, planning to make clean water accessible and to provide shelter to people who have lost their homes. To donate to the IRC’s efforts in Pakistan, click here.

• The International Medical Corps (IMC) has sent mobile medical teams of doctors and paramedics to assist victims in the hardest hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in the northwest. To make a donation to the Santa Monica, Calif. based organization, founded by a UCLA doctor, go to the IMC website. The organization is also seeking doctors, nurses and trained professionals from a wide variety of fields. For more information and to volunteer, visit the Corps’ website.

• Westport, Conn.-based Save the Children, dedicated to helping children worldwide, is already providing medical care, food and shelter kits. To donate to its Pakistan efforts, click here.

• Mercy Corps‘ Pakistan Emergency Fund supports Mercy Corps workers with their efforts in helping displaced families in the hard-hit Swat Valley. Visit the Mercy Corps website to donate to the Pakistan Emergency Fund.

• Oxfam hopes to reach 400,000 people affected by the devastating floods, supplying clean water and preventing the spread of waterborne disease. To support Oxfam’s efforts, go to the Oxfam America website. Those outside the US can donate to its UK emergency relief fund for Pakistan.

• The World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger, is supplying food to the tens of thousands affected by the floods. To donate, visit the WFP website.

• Islamic Relief Worldwide, a relief organization based in Birmingham, England, has launched a £2 million (or $3.2 million USD) appeal to deliver clean water, food and health care. You can donate here.

• BRAC has temporarily halted its normal operations in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to provide relief work. Due to the acute food shortage, BRAC Pakisan has begun to deliver food packets containing such items at rice, lentils, flour and water purification tables. In the immediate future, the team will also be distributing Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) and sending out a medical team to begin assessing health needs. To donate, click here.

Here are the latest news stories regarding water or the environment.

Experts Name the Top 19 Solutions to the Global Freshwater Crisis: A new study conducted by the international research firm GlobeScan has collected the responses of a wide range of water experts to find some answers to the pressing issues of the fresh water crisis.

Recycling ‘Tiny Trash’: What should be done about the 4.5 trillion cigarette butts that find their way into ecosystems each year? A new recycling plan might solve this dilemma.

Concord, MA to be First U.S. Town to Ban Bottled Water

Pakistanis fear overflowing lake will wash them away: This year’s erratic weather has caused environmental destruction and has displaced many villagers in the area.

Water Adds New Constraints to Power: California is putting new constraints on industries which generate power that would discourage the use of fresh water for power plant cooling