JUST LIKE A PRAYER: The Pope released his highly anticipated encyclical (a papal letter to bishops), blaming climate change on human behavior and calling on all nations to take action to avert catastrophe. 

A MOUNTAINOUS SHIFT: Chinese scientists announced that April’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake that rocked Nepal shifted Mt. Everest 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) to the southwest. Its monumental height of 29,029 feet (8,484-meter) remains the same. 

RUNNING ON EMPTY: NASA’s Grace Satellites reveal that twenty-one of the world’s thirty-seven largest underground aquifers are drying up, with more water being removed than replaced. 

IMPERFECT PRODUCE: Raley’s, a popular grocery chain in the West, announced it will begin selling less-than-perfect fruits and vegetables in July to help reduce food waste. The USDA estimates that supermarkets toss out $15 billion worth of unsold fruits and vegetables each year. 

DDT EXPOSURE: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism published a study that linked pregnant women exposed to DDT to heightened risk of breast cancer for their daughters. Previous studies suggest that DDT interferes with the function of estrogen, reduced fertility, and birth defects. 

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