Environment watch

Mexican Marines patrol a beach looking for stranded residents as Hurricane Alex approaches near Bagdad beach in Matamoros, Mexican state of Tamaulipas June 30, 2010. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

A resident jumps into Hanjiang River to escape the summer heat in Xiangfan, Hubei province July 2, 2010. Weather in 10 major Chinese cities will be slightly hotter in July, with temperatures in southern Fuzhou and Guangzhou seen noticeably higher...more

A pelican coated in oil stands on the beach during stormy weather in Ship Island, Mississippi July 1, 2010. More than 10 weeks into the crisis, oil continued spewing into the Gulf, clean-up success remained limited and a proposal by the Obama...more

A fisherman rows a boat in the algae-filled Chaohu Lake in Chaohu, Anhui province June 24, 2010. REUTERS/Stringer

A view shows Tehran's Milad telecommunication tower (L) during a sand storm in Tehran June 24, 2010. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi

Tourists walk on Germany's highest mountain, the 2,962 metre (9,718 feet) Zugspitze, near the southern Bavarian resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen June 23, 2010. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle

A view of the Santa Catarina river overflooded by heavy rains caused by hurricane Alex in Monterrey, Mexico, July 1, 2010. REUTERS/Kristian Lopez

A sinkhole is seen developing inside a property that houses ten families in Guatemala City June 18, 2010. The hole, which is currently two meters wide and four meters deep, is caused by a failing drainage system that has produced two other, much...more

A man walks along a field of wheat lined with poppies in Haveluy, northern France June 30, 2010. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

Fog covers the popular tourist attraction Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro June, 30, 2010. REUTERS/Bruno Domingos

People attend the annual summer solstice at the Stonehenge monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, southern England June 21, 2010. Druids and revelers visited Stonehenge during an annual pilgrimage to the site to celebrate the summer solstice, the...more

A general view of the landslide-hit Dazhai Village in Guanling county, Guizhou province, China, June 29, 2010. REUTERS/Stringer

A street damaged by tropical storm Alex is seen near Acelhuate River, whose level has risen due to heavy rain, in San Salvador June 28, 2010. REUTERS/Luis Galdamez

Poggy fish lie dead stuck in oil in Bay Jimmy near Port Sulpher, Louisiana June 20, 2010. REUTERS/Sean Gardner

A local flood victim holds his wife on a flooded street in Fuzhou, Jiangxi province, China, June 23, 2010. REUTERS/Aly Song

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill swirls in waves off a beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama June 25, 2010. REUTERS/Lee Celano

A woman sunbathes next to branches swept away by the floods on the Quebrantos beach at San Juan de la Arena, northern Spain, June 18, 2010. Heavy rains caused flooding throughout this week in the northern Spanish region of Asturias. REUTERS/Eloy...more

A pedestrian braves a severe thunderstorm in Washington June 28, 2010. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

Children cross a flooded street in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, June 23, 2010. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Palm trees move in the wind as a man walks on the shore in Chetumal, Mexico, June 26, 2010. REUTERS/Gerardo Garcia

People enjoy a hot sunny day in Treptow park at the Spree river in Berlin, June 17, 2010. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A general view of destroyed trailer homes and cars in the Smith's Trailer Park in Midland, Ontario, Canada, June 23, 2010. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Residents stand near a destroyed house after heavy rains in Palmares city, in the northeastern state of Alagoas June 23, 2010. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

A general view of a dredging site at Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana June 22, 2010. REUTERS/Sean Gardner

A woman walks on a railroad that was destroyed after heavy rains in Rio Largo city, in the northeastern state of Alagoas, Brazil, June 23, 2010. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes