Trash hangs on trees after water receded along a creek in Indianapolis in Sept. 2003. The trash was accompanied by raw sewage that overflows into rivers and streams after heavy rains. Examples of recent, major sewage spills. Some of these municipal sewer authorities already have been fined or face other enforcement action for these or other spills.

More than 200 million children worldwide under age 5 do not get basic health care, leading to nearly 10 million deaths annually from treatable ailments like diarrhea and pneumonia, a U.S.-based charity said Wednesday. Nearly all of the deaths occur in the developing world, with poor children facing twice the risk of dying compared to richer children, according to Save the Children's global report. Sweden, Norway and Iceland top the ranking in terms of well-being for mothers and children in 146 countries surveyed, while Nigeria ranks last.

While global warming is expected to be strongest at the poles, it may be an even greater threat to species living in the tropics, scientists say. Tropical species are accustomed to living in a small temperature range and thus may be unable to cope with changes of even a few degrees, according to an analysis in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The White House said Tuesday the U.S. will send more than $3 million to help victims of the devastating cyclone in Myanmar, up from an initial emergency contribution of $250,000. The additional commitment of funds, announced by press secretary Dana Perino, comes as Myanmar continues to resist entry for a U.S. disaster assessment team. The Bush administration insists that permission for such a team to enter the Southeast Asian nation and look at the damage would allow quicker and larger aid contributions.

An experimental meningitis vaccine appears to generate more potent immunity than the version now available in young people who suffer most from the disease, researchers reported Monday. Previous research shows the Novartis vaccine, called Menveo, also works in young infants, who are not protected by the current vaccine. BETTER LIFE: Health news and wellness tips "It has a great deal of potential in that age group," says Keith Reisinger, medical director of Primary Physicians Research Inc., the for-profit clinical trials organization that carried out the Novartis study.

An experimental meningitis vaccine appears to generate more potent immunity than the version now available in young people who suffer most from the disease, researchers reported Monday. Previous research shows the Novartis vaccine, called Menveo, also works in young infants, who are not protected by the current vaccine. BETTER LIFE: Health news and wellness tips "It has a great deal of potential in that age group," says Keith Reisinger, medical director of Primary Physicians Research Inc., the for-profit clinical trials organization that carried out the Novartis study.

Authorities have reported more than 6,300 cases in a deadly viral outbreak and on Monday raised the death toll to 26 children. The latest fatality was in coastal Zhejiang province. The provincial Health Ministry's website said that in addition to the one death, 1,198 children had been stricken with enterovirus 71. The ministry appealed for any sick children "to be sent immediately to health clinics" and for people to "report the case immediately to health and education departments."

Low-oxygen zones where sea life is threatened or cannot survive are growing as the oceans are heated by global warming, a new study warns. Oxygen-depleted zones in the central and eastern equatorial Atlantic and equatorial Pacific oceans appear to have expanded over the last 50 years, researchers report in Friday's edition of the journal Science. Low-oxygen zones in the Gulf of Mexico and other areas also have been studied in recent years, raising concerns about the threat to sea life.

Measles outbreaks in several states have led to more than 70 cases so far this year, the worst in six years, health officials said Thursday. Most of the cases have been traced to outbreaks overseas and are mainly in children who were not vaccinated for religious or other reasons, according to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention. Since measles vaccinations began in the early 1960s, cases have dramatically declined in the U.S.

After a monster tornado devastated Greensburg, Kan., one year ago this Sunday, the city faced tragedy and the daunting task of rebuilding from scratch. It also got an opportunity, Mayor John Janssen says. This rural county seat 109 miles west of Wichita has made "green" its rebuilding mantra, declaring itself a national model for environmentally conscious living