International

"France signalled a 'breakthrough' Tuesday at 46-nation talks in Paris tasked with paving the way for a highly-anticipated climate rescue pact to be inked in December."

"VATICAN CITY — About 60 mayors from around the world gathered here on Tuesday and pledged to combat global warming and help the poor deal with its effects, at a conference swiftly organized by the Vatican barely a month after Pope Francis’ sweeping encyclical on the environment."

"James Hansen has often been out ahead of his scientific colleagues."

"Nearly 20 million people were forced to flee their homes due to floods, storms and earthquakes last year, a problem likely to worsen due to climate change, but which could be eased by better construction, a report said on Monday."

"Japan will cut greenhouse gas emissions 26% from 2013 levels by 2030, under a plan submitted to the UN on Friday."

"The length of wildfire seasons across the globe and the burnable areas of Earth’s surface have drastically increased in the past three decades due to climate change, according to a groundbreaking new study supported by years of research from the U.S. Forest Service's Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory."

"Anyone who thought that Pope Francis was going to issue his climate change manifesto, and then recede quietly into the background on the issue was sorely mistaken."

"Negotiators working toward the Paris talks debate whether strict requirements will endanger cooperation, particularly from the U.S."

"The United States and four other nations that border the Arctic Ocean pledged on Thursday to prohibit commercial fishing in the international waters of the Arctic until more scientific research could be done on how warming seas and melting ice are affecting fish stocks."

The year 2014, the latest for which complete global data are available, was the hottest ever recorded on land and on sea. The signature lower-atmosphere warming indicates the cause is manmade greenhouse emissions.