The mystery of the bee-killing colony collapse disorder may be solved: A new report finds that every dying hive studied had a "100 percent lethal" combination of a fungus and a virus.

A dam breach in Hungary sends 184 million gallons of toxic red mud from an aluminum-processing plant through the town of Ajka, into the Marcal River, and eventually to the Danube.

More than 90 percent of pregnant women have elevated levels of bisphenol A, an endocrine-disrupting compound found in tin cans, polycarbonate bottles, and many other consumer goods, a study reveals.

Canada declares BPA a toxic substance.

The United States can't decide whether BPA is toxic or not.

A Montana woman fends off a bear by throwing a zucchini at its head.

The EPA recommends that the Clean Water Act permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County, West Virginia, be withdrawn. Without such a permit, the country's largest mountaintop-removal operation would have to shut down.

West Virginia is found to be the largest geothermal hot spot in the eastern United States-but its development could be hampered by the Senate's failure to put a price on carbon.

Constellation Energy scraps a plan to build a new nuclear reactor in Maryland. Six other new reactors are also canceled because of declining demand, lower prices for natural gas-and the Senate's failure to put a price on carbon.

A mountain goat kills a hiker in Washington's Olympic National Park.

President Mohamed Nasheed of the low-lying Maldive Islands puts on a hard hat and jeans to install solar panels on his house.

Solar panels will go back up on the White House this spring.

Neighbors of a new wind farm on the island of Vinalhaven, Maine, complain that "the industrial whoosh-and-whoop of the 123-foot blades is making life in this otherwise tranquil corner of the island unbearable."

Frito-Lay largely discontinues using biodegradable bags for its SunChips because customers complained they were too noisy.

The U.S. military wants to use 50 percent renewable energy by 2020.

The Obama administration lifts its moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico a month and a half early.

The Michigan pipeline that leaked more than 800,000 gallons of oil reopens.

Thirty-three miners trapped in a Chilean copper-and-gold mine for 69 days are rescued.

Humpback whale AHWC No. 1363 sets a record for the longest recorded trip ever taken by a nonhuman mammal: 6,200 miles, from Brazil to Madagascar.

The bar-tailed godwit sets a record for the longest avian migration: 6,800 miles, from New Zealand to Alaska.

Tens of thousands of walrus mass on the beach at Point Lay, Alaska, apparently because the sea ice they customarily rest on has melted.

Los Angeles measures a record 113 degrees Fahrenheit-so hot the National Weather Service's thermometer breaks.

The year 2010 ties with 1998 for hottest ever. --Paul Rauber

• January/February 2011

Features

• Life After Wartime
• Everybody Hates Chuck Schwartz
• Brothers at Arms
• Beyond Oil in 20 Years
• Extremities in Extremes

Departments

• Spout
• Create
• Enjoy
• Ask
• Act
• Explore
• Escape
• Survive
• Grapple
• Up to Speed
• Innovate
• Comfort Zone
• Mixed Media
• Bulletin
• Taking the Initiative
• Last Words

More

• About Sierra
• Advertising Information
• Archives
• Corrections
• Internships