By Matt McGrath

The levels of gases in the atmosphere that drive global warming increased to a record high in 2012.

MarketWatch.com

Global climate change and pollution from the use of fossil fuels killed nearly 5 million people around the world in 2010, according to a report released earlier this year by climate change advocacy group DARA.

Matt McGrath

A new analysis of temperature records indicates that the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet is warming nearly twice as fast as previously thought.

US researchers say they found the first evidence of warming during the southern hemisphere's summer months.

SARAH LYALL

  WORCESTER, England — Britons may remember 2012 as the year the weather spun off its rails in a chaotic concoction of drought, deluge and flooding, but the unpredictability of it all turns out to have been all too predictable: Around the world, extreme has become the new commonplace.

Reuters

*70 pct of corals will suffer degradation by 2030

*To protect half of reefs, temperature rise must be under 1.5C

By David Shukman Science Editor, BBC News, in Svalbard

Scientists in the Arctic are warning that this summer's record-breaking melt is part of an accelerating trend with profound implications.

Norwegian researchers report that the sea ice is becoming significantly thinner and more vulnerable.

Aug 29, 2013 - Justin Gillis - nytimes.com

An international panel of scientists has found with near certainty that human activity is the cause of most of the temperature increases of recent decades, and warns that sea levels could conceivably rise by more than three feet by the end of the century if emissions continue at a runaway pace.

Selling our furture is the first chapter written by author Lester R. Brown in his book Plan B 4.0 Mobilizing to save civilization. The chapter talks about Food: The weak link, the emerging politicics of food sacarcity, our global ponzi economy, mounting stresses and failing states. Towards the end of the chapter he gives us a Plan to Save Civilization.  Today we are living beyond the meams of the earth to support all people -- as if we are paying with a credit card  -- but don't have the money to pay the bill when it comes due.   

Interns presenting Population Pressure: Land and Water.

This hypothetical graph shows how daytime and nighttime temperature vary in the vicinity of a large city. Notice how daytime temperature is higher over heat-reflecting buildings and lower over a water body. The urban heat island effect causes cities to run warmer than surrounding rural areas, especially at night. Development produces heat islands by replacing vegetation, particularly forests, with pavement and other urban infrastructure.