The death rates of trees in Western U.S. forests have doubled over the past two to three decades, according to a new study spearheaded by the U.S. Geological Survey, driven in large part by higher temperatures and water scarcity linked to climate change.

This Tennessee TVA spill is over 40 times bigger than the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. Our movement needs to draw on the first hand accounts, images and videos from this catastrophe to show people that coal is a dirty business and needs to be replaced.

Obama's comments on his new "green" team.

President-elect Barack Obama plans to name Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) to lead the Interior Department -- an appointment that could put the brakes on several controversial energy development projects across the West.

The team President-elect Barack Obama selected to carry out his energy and environmental policies faces a host of political, economic, diplomatic and scientific challenges that could impede his plans to address global warming and America’s growing dependence on dirty and uncertain sources of energy.

Ukraine and Russia plan to stockpile credits to release greenhouse gases jointly valued at $89 billion, saving them for use by their factories, power plants and home heaters under a new global-warming treaty taking effect in 2013.

The Washington Post recommends a carbon tax after noting the experience in Europe and a recent GAO report.

The effort to come up with a global warming treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol inched forward Saturday morning as delegates to United Nations-sponsored talks here agreed on a narrowly framed interim document that leaves all the difficult negotiating until next year.

California regulators adopted the nation's first comprehensive plan to slash greenhouse gases Thursday and characterized it as a model for President-elect Barack Obama, who has pledged an aggressive national and international effort to combat global warming. The ambitious blueprint by the world's eighth-largest economy would cut the state's emissions by 15% from today's level over the next 12 years, bringing them down to 1990 levels.

European leaders agreed on Friday to binding measures to curb global warming but pushed back deadlines and granted significant concessions to smokestack industries that said they were struggling in a hard economic climate.

At a time when major U.S. companies are announcing job layoffs almost daily, the renewable energy industry is hiring new workers every day to build wind farms, install rooftop solar arrays, and build solar thermal and geothermal power plants. The output of industrial firms that manufacture the equipment for these energy facilities is expanding by well over 30 percent a year. These investments both create jobs and help prevent climate change from spiraling out of control.

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who heads the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to be the next energy secretary, and he has picked Carol M. Browner, Environmental Protection Agency administrator for eight years under President Bill Clinton, to fill a new White House post overseeing energy, environmental and climate policies; and Lisa P. Jackson, recently appointed chief of staff to New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D) and former head of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, to head the EPA. Nancy Sutley, a deputy mayor of Los Angeles for energy and environment, will chair the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

President-elect Barack Obama said on Tuesday attacking global climate change is a "matter of urgency" and "national security" that will create jobs as he got advice from Al Gore, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the issue.

After four years, the carbon trading system has created a multibillion-euro windfall for some of Europe's biggest polluters, with little or no noticeable benefit to the environment so far.

At a Capitol Hill briefing on December 8, 2008, NASA’s lead climate scientist, senior economists and environmental leaders urged Congress to move swiftly to enact a national carbon tax to reduce carbon emissions before they push Earth’s climate system past its “tipping point” into accelerating ecological and social collapse.

Thousands of climate protesters, some dressed as polar bears, devils or penguins, demanded on Saturday swifter action from the United Nations to combat global warming.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy failed to end deadlock with ex-communist European Union states on an EU climate package on Saturday but predicted a deal would be reached by a December 11-12 summit.

Hopes to reach agreement at a U.N. climate conference in Poland on protecting the world's forests are fading.

The Government Accountability Office, in a report issued as negotiators convened the latest round of U.N. climate talks in Poland, has concluded that two key international programs aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions are not getting the job done: Europe's cap-and-trade system and a U.N. program that allows industrialized countries to offset their domestic greenhouse gas emissions.

3TIER is producing data-rich maps to help plan the locations for wind and solar farms.

The Wall Street Journal editorializes in favor of a carbon tax instead of cap and trade.

President-elect Obama should take Al Gore's proposal for a carbon tax and make it global. A tax on CO2 emissions -- not a cap-and-trade system -- offers the best prospect of meaningfully engaging China and the U.S., while avoiding the prospect of unhinged environmental protectionism.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has released its 2007 Greenhouse Gas Emissions report, outlining the the latest trends in US energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions: Total greenhouse gas emissions in 2007 were 1.4 percent higher than in 2006.

Despite daunting challenges, technology to harness the power of the waves and tides is now being deployed around the world – from Portugal to South Korea to New York’s East River. These projects, just beginning to produce electricity, are on the cutting edge of renewable energy’s latest frontier: hydrodynamic power.

Ban Ki Moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, advocates for a massive green jobs campaign asking: Amid the pressures of the global financial crisis, some ask how we can afford to tackle climate change. The better question is: Can we afford not to?

President-elect Barack Obama signaled Saturday that he would quickly seek a sweeping economic recovery plan likely to exceed the $175-billion price tag of the plan he unveiled during the campaign. Obama has asked his economic team to craft a plan to create 2.5 million jobs over the next two years, including some in the field of alternative energy. His original plan was for one year.

African countries have agreed to negotiate as a bloc in talks on a new global warming treaty, a move meant to give the continent highly threatened by climate change a greater say in the future pact.

Executives at General Motors, the largest and apparently the most imperiled of the three American car companies, are using the Volt as the centerpiece of their case to a skeptical Congress that their business plan for a turnaround is strong, and that a federal bailout would be a good investment in G.M.’s future.

Advocates of a carbon tax see the new political landscape as opening up the possibility of a carbon tax instead of cap and trade

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) plans to renew her select committee to address global warming next year, ending speculation that she would terminate the panel to clear the way for the next chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

House Democrats removed John Dingell (D-Mich.) as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, installing Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in his stead -- a move that will have resounding implications for climate and energy policy going forward and demonstrates growing strength among the party's more liberal wing, especially when it comes to climate policy.

California formally moved to spread its can-do global warming gospel around the world, signing a declaration Wednesday with 11 other U.S. states and provinces or states in five other countries to help them slash their greenhouse gas emissions.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, announced that she will introduce two pieces of green legislation in January. The first is a proposal to create a grant program that would hand out $15 billion a year to support clean energy innovation. The second bill would direct the U.S. EPA to develop a carbon cap-and-trade system by amending the Clean Air Act.

Palo Alto-based Better Place along with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed announced a plan which sets out to install charging stations in northern California homes, businesses, parking lots and government buildings by 2012.

Brazil's biofuel industry just months ago was being flooded with billions in new investments for vast new sugarcane plantations and gleaming distilleries that churn out the cheapest ethanol on earth. But the global financial crisis has put the brakes on that boom.

Climate activists worldwide are raising the stakes on coal, with many turning to civil disobedience to make their voices heard. Actions in recent months have ranged from chaining themselves to coal conveyor belts in Sydney, to forming port blockades in the Netherlands, to scaling smokestacks in the United Kingdom.

President-elect Obama sent a video message to a conference of governors promising "new chapter in American leadership on climate change."

Van Jones argues for a green new deal that will produce hundreds of thousands of jobs at all levels of income, especially in urban areas.

Scientists have long believed that thawing permafrost in Arctic soils could release huge amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Now they are watching with increasing concern as methane begins to bubble up from the bottom of the fast-melting Arctic Ocean.

Tens of thousands of Australians took part in mass protests around the country Saturday to call for tough government action on climate change.

After a federal court ruling stalled a city initiative to make most new taxis hybrid vehicles, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on Friday that he would seek another way, announcing new financial incentives aimed at pushing taxi owners to buy the more environmentally friendly gas-and-electric cars.

For the first time, the costs of global warming's projected effects in the nation's largest state have been quantified: About $2.5 trillion of real estate assets in California are at risk from extreme weather events, sea level rise and wildfires, with a projected annual price tag of between $300 million and $3.9 billion.

Responding to a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club over a new coal plant being build on American Indian reservation land in Utah, the Environmental Appeals Board ruled that the EPA has no valid reason to refuse to regulate the CO2 emissions that come from new coal-powered plants.

Environmental groups have sought to force the federal government to restrict carbon dioxide emissions using the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act (because of threats to polar bears from global warming) and other federal laws, and now they are poised to add the Clean Water Act to the list.

The California economy loses about $28 billion annually due to premature deaths and illnesses linked to ozone and particulates spewed from hundreds of locations in the South Coast and San Joaquin air basins, according to findings by a Cal State Fullerton research team.

If President-elect Barack Obama enacts the energy plan he laid out during his campaign, American taxpayers will each get a $500 rebate check – funded by a windfall profits taxes on big oil companies.

U.S. voters approved billions of dollars for mass-transit projects, highlighting a growing desire to overhaul the nation's aging transportation systems.

Billionaire T. Boone Pickens expects to know within 100 days of Barack Obama taking over as president in January whether the U.S. government is going to adopt part of his ambitious and controversial energy plan.

Adding electricity from the wind and the sun could increase the frequency of blackouts and reduce the reliability of the nation’s electrical grid, an industry report says.

The former New Zealand government's strong policy on climate change was a driving factor behind the Labour party's loss, the federal opposition says.

Former Vice President Al Gore puts forward a specific plan to confront climate change.

A growing cadre of energy-conscious drivers is leapfrogging auto makers by turning Prius hybrids into plug-in cars, installing an extra battery that comes with a hefty price tag.

Le Clan du Néon, an increasingly popular environmental movement that wants to make the City of Lights a little darker. One tactic is to turn off neon shop signs at night by reaching the external fire switches that control them, usually found two or three metres up the façade.

Thousands of protesters took part Saturday in a demonstration at a nuclear waste disposal centre in northern Germany where a trainload of treated waste is due to arrive from France next week.

The Government wants to build an unprecedented 33 gigawatts of wind power capacity by 2020 to help to meet Britain's carbon reduction targets, but sceptics question whether the 15,000 turbines will ever be built due to lack of financial incentives.

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has called for charging shoppers 6 cents for every plastic bag needed at the register.

The Bush administration will recommend that Congress give up the idea of a second nuclear waste dump, dropping a grand bargain struck in the 1980s, and instead vote to enlarge the repository now proposed in Nevada.

Members of the environmental community in and around Washington say a climate czar could oversee various government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department, to focus on tackling global warming and fostering clean energy to jump-start the flagging economy.

Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection has some environmental advice for the incoming Obama administration: focus on energy efficiency and renewable resources, and create a unified U.S. power grid.

Shoppers in Wales could face a charge of up to 20p if they use plastic carrier bags at the check-out making Wales the first country in the UK to tax plastic bags.

As he assumes the presidency, Barack Obama must make climate-change legislation and investment in green energy top priorities. And he must be ready to take bold — and politically unpopular — action to address global warming.

San Francisco voters rejected a ballot Proposition that would have authorized a feasibility study of public power and set clean energy mandates

Mixed results from voters in California; yes to rapid mass transit, no to green power.

EU member states are ready to grant automakers a three-year delay until 2015 to reduce the CO2 emissions of their new vehicles, in light of the global economic crisis, negotiators said Saturday.

Every year America throws away 250,000 homes rather than demolishing them they should be taken apart and re-used.

Google, the Internet search and advertising giant, is increasingly looking to the energy sector as a potential business opportunity. the company has invested millions of dollars in making its own power-hungry data centers more efficient. Its philanthropic arm has made small investments in clean energy technologies.

Hydropower, nearly forgotten amid the rush to trendier forms of renewable energy, such as wind and solar. But hydropower — the oldest and by far most widely used alternative energy — is quietly making a comeback spurred by a scramble for clean energy and the high costs of fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski on Monday introduced a wide-ranging climate change agenda led by a contentious cap-and-trade program to curb carbon emissions and incentives for growing the nascent electric car industry in Oregon.

Thomas Friedman argues the U.S. can’t afford a financial bailout that also isn’t a green buildup — a buildup of a new clean energy industry that strengthens America and helps the planet. Energy technology is the key to the futur.

Oakland unveiled the Oakland Green Jobs Corps, a new job-creation program officials are hoping to grow in Oakland and, potentially, across the United States.

Solar refrigeration can be inexpensive and it would give the electric grid much-needed relief.

The federal government is about to open up to wind energy development vast swaths of deep ocean waters, and states and wind park developers are vying to be the first to seize the new frontier. Wind parks in these waters can generate more energy than nearshore and onshore sites, they don't ruin seascape views, and they don't interfere as much with other ocean activities.

The Queen of England has helped trigger a resurgence of interest in wind projects in the deep waters off Britain by promising to invest in projects at a time when onshore and other offshore schemes are struggling to meet their potential in the face of planning delays and other problems.

A review of Thomas Friedman's book, Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How it Can Renew America; Michael Brune's Coming Clean: Breaking America's Addiction to Oil and Coal, and Van Jones' The Green Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems.

Producing fuel in unconventional ways, such as from oil sands or coal, would significantly increase carbon emissions relative to conventional oil production, according to a study released on Wednesday by the RAND Corporation, the nonpartisan research institute based in Santa Monica, Calif.

Ebola, cholera, plague and sleeping sickness were among those identified yesterday by veterinary scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) as spreading across the planet because of climate change. The scientists said that wildlife could give an early warning of the approach of diseases and save millions of people.

European Union legislators voted in favor of laws aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but frustrated some environmental advocates by taking steps to ease the burden on industry.

Wind turbine makers are having a hard time keeping up with demand.

Biofuel policies and subsidies should be urgently reviewed in order to preserve the goal of world food security, protect poor farmers, promote broad-based rural development and ensure environmental sustainability, Food and Agriculture Orgnizaton of the United Nations said today in a new edition of its annual flagship publication The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2008

The Canadian Liberal Party has put one of the boldest and most important policy initiatives in global politics on the table: the Liberal Party's "green shift." The policy would make carbon taxation the principal source of government revenue.

A California company is planning to build a network of charging stations on four Hawaii islands to fuel electric-powered cars.

Thanks largely to the prodigious Atha­bas­ca oil sands, Canada ranks second only to Saudi Arabia in terms of total oil reserves.

In theory, the end to the oil shale ban, which has been in effect for two years, could open two million acres for development across Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

Climate change was a hot topic at the general debate during the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, with urgent calls for global efforts in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, especially from small island nations.

The increase in emissions out-paces even the worst-case scenarios published by scientists affiliated with the U.N. Carbon emission trends are going in the wrong direction. And fast.

A longstanding congressional ban on new offshore oil drilling will expire soon, with Democratic leaders conceding they stand no chance of renewing it this year over President Bush's opposition - and in an election year where gasoline prices have become a hot campaign issue.

Environmental panel transcript with Al Gore, Queen Rania of Jordan, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Neville Isdell CEO of Coca Cola, and U2's Bono and moderated by President Clinton.

Seven Western states and four Canadian provinces proposed a sweeping regional crackdown on global warming emissions in the face of continuing reluctance by the Bush administration and Congress to pass comprehensive climate legislation.

The $700 billion bailout is roughly equal to this year's bill for imported oil. So if the US really took ending our addiction to oil seriously, The Treasury could repaid for the bailout -- and it's hard to see any other pot of money lying around big enough.

A trillion-dollar climate rescue package would put us on the path to avert catastrophic environmental outcomes, jump-start the transition to a clean energy economy, all the while largely paying for itself in energy savings.

Scientists may have to turn back time and clean the atmosphere of all man-made carbon dioxide to prevent the worst impacts of global warming, one of Europe's most senior climate scientists has warned.

Will Californians drive less to reduce global warming? Maybe not on our own -- but state officials are ready to nudge us.

It's a scramble for the spoils of global warming as the rapid melting of Arctic sea ice is opening access to previously unreachable deposits of oil and gas, setting off a race by northern nations - including the United States, Canada and Russia - to claim them.

Despite appearances, T. Boone Pickens has not become an instant environmentalist. But he has become an advocate of wind power, because he sees the country's dependence on imported petroleum as a security threat.

Mountaintop removal could be ended by as early as next year, said a leader in an environmental group working to halt the destructive mining practices.

During his seven and a half years in office, President Bush has declared 422 major disasters — severe storms, tornadoes, wildfires and floods — or more than one a week.

At least 30 US urban centers, including New York City, New Orleans and Las Vegas, will team with the UK-based Carbon Disclosure Project to measure their greenhouse gas emissions and other climate change-relevant data.

Senator John McCain toured a nuclear power plant in Michigan to highlight his support for the construction of 45 new nuclear power generators by 2030.

The total cost of dumping nuclear waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain repository will hit $96.2 billion.

Deforestation has shifted from poverty-driven subsistence farming to major corporations razing forests for large-scale projects in mining, logging, oil and gas development, and agriculture.

The next president of the United States will arrive at the White House committed to a radical new approach to energy policy.

According to the Green New Deal Group, humanity only has 100 months to prevent dangerous global warming.

Al Gore is challenging the nation to produce every kilowatt of electricity through wind, sun and other Earth-friendly energy sources within 10 years, an audacious goal he hopes the next president will embrace.

A bipartisan group of 27 elder statesmen is sending an open letter to both presidential candidates and every member of Congress saying the country faces "a long-term energy crisis" that threatens the security and prosperity of future generations if swift action isn't taken.

Fifty-five ports from around the world agreed to cut carbon dioxide emissions and boost air quality with the endorsement of the World Ports Climate Declaration.

Government scientists detailed a rising death toll from heat waves, wildfires, disease and smog caused by global warming in an analysis the White House buried so it could avoid regulating greenhouse gases. The 149-page document released Monday laid out for the first time the scientific case for the grave risks that global warming poses to people, and to the food, energy and water on which society depends.

The EPA is seeking more comments on regulations for carbon emissions. This will delay new regulations until there is a new president.

The G-8 nations agreed to cut carbon emissions in half by 2050. A step in the right direction but still very weak.

The German government wants to build up to 30 offshore windfarms in a bid to meet its renewable energy targets. Te windfarms would be built in the Baltic and North seas and said some 2,000 windmills should soon be producing 11,000 megawatts of electricity.

California fires are more frequent and stronger. These changes are now being linked to climate change.

The World Wildlife Fund issues report cards for developed nations on limiting climate change. They find nations are not doing enough to reduce carbon emissions.

The Green Communities Act was hailed by environmentalists as among the most innovative efforts in the nation to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and to encourage use of clean technologies that don't contribute to global warming.

Senators McCain and Obama both want less reliance on foreign oil and cleaner fuels but McCain wants offshore drilling, Obama doesn't; McCain wants a hiatus on the gas tax, Obama doesn't; both want more efficient cars and support nuclear power (McCain more strongly supports nuclear). Both see themselves as "green."

The construction of a coal-fired power plant in Georgia was halted Monday when a judge ruled that the plant's builders must first obtain a permit from state regulators that limits the amount of carbon dioxide emissions. This is the first time a court has applied the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that CO2 us a pollutant.

British Columbia, Canada has put into effect a carbon tax in order to reduce the use of gas by consumers.

For the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.

Climate scientist, Jim Hansen, calls for a carbon tax. He says it is time to tax emissions that cause harm.

National Intelligence Assessment finds climate change a threat to national security.

As greenhouse-gas emissions rise, North America is likely to experience more droughts and excessive heat in some regions even as intense downpours and hurricanes pound others more often, according to a report issued yesterday by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.

Saved by Senate Republicans, big oil companies dodged an attempt to slap them with a windfall profits tax and take away billions of dollars in tax breaks in response to the record gasoline prices that have the nation fuming.

A catastrophic water shortage could prove an even bigger threat to mankind this century than soaring food prices and the relentless exhaustion of energy reserves, according to a panel of global experts at the Goldman Sachs "Top Five Risks" conference.

The German government wants to build up to 30 offshore windfarms in a bid to meet its renewable energy targets. Te windfarms would be built in the Baltic and North seas and said some 2,000 windmills should soon be producing 11,000 megawatts of electricity.

It's been a long time coming, but the United States is finally going to have a President who takes climate change seriously enough to do something about it

Californians could face mandatory water rationing unless they drastically reduce consumption because of a state-wide water crisis, governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said.

NATO must prepare for new threats in coming decades that stem from the impact of global warming, energy shortages and the spread of nuclear technology, the alliance's top diplomat warned yesterday.

"The United States will tell a July meeting of the Group of Eight rich nations that it cannot meet big cuts in emissions of planet-warming gases by 2020, its chief climate negotiator Harlan Watson said. 'It's frankly not do-able for us,' he told Reuters on Tuesday, referring to a goal for rich countries to curb greenhouse gases by 25-40 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. A draft summit declaration, dated May 5 and seen by Reuters, showed Washington is blocking efforts to get the summit to agree targets for cutting carbon emissions, insisting that responsibility be shared by big emerging economies. The European Union says it will cut emissions by 30 percent if other rich countries do and supports a goal of 25-40 percent for all industrialized nations."

Baltimore's thousands of abandoned homes are a blight - but also an opportunity to create neighborhoods full of green buildings that are efficient and produce solar or geothermal energy.

"The rise in concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere from human activities is influencing climate patterns and vegetation across the U.S. and will significantly disrupt water supplies, agriculture, forestry and ecosystems for decades, a new federal report, [released yesterday,] says. The changes are unfolding in ways that are likely to produce an uneven national map of harms and benefits... The authors... and some independent experts said the main value of its projections was the level of detail and the high confidence in some conclusions [which] comes in part from... emphasis on the next 25 to 50 years, when shifts in emissions are unlikely to make much of a difference in climate trends... The 203-page report... is a review of existing studies, including last year's... from the IPCC. It is part of a continuing assessment of lingering questions related to global warming that was initiated in 2003 by Mr. Bush... The West will not only face a dearth of water, but also large shifts in when it is available. Water supplies there will be transformed by mid-century, with mountain snows that provided a steady flow of runoff for irrigation and reservoirs dwindling. That flow will be replaced by rainfall that comes at times and in amounts that make it hard to manage."

Global warming is already affecting the nation's forests, water resources, farmland and wildlife, and will have serious negative consequences over the next 25 to 50 years, according to a report issued yesterday by the federal government. The scientific assessment by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, which was commissioned by the Agriculture Department and carried out by 38 scientists inside and outside the government, provides the most detailed look in nearly eight years at how climate change is reshaping the American landscape.

Doing nothing on global warming will cost the U.S. economy more than 3.6 percent of GDP — or $3.8 trillion annually (in today’s dollars) — by 2100.

The number of oil-producer-based conflicts is likely to grow in the future as stratospheric prices of crude oil push more countries in the developing world to produce oil and gas.

What do presidential candidates John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have in common — aside from the obvious? They all love green-collar jobs.

Spiking food prices have led to riots in recent weeks in Haiti, Indonesia, and several African nations. India recently banned export of all but the highest quality rice, and Vietnam blocked the signing of a new contract for foreign rice sales.

The two sides — climate and defense — needn't be opposed if there is a desire to survive the future.

This year could mark a watershed at the U.N as they will undertake climate-change negotiations in earnest and accelerate our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals to fight poverty, hunger and disease.

The water crisis is no longer something that we know about as affecting developing countries or their poor in particular.

The world faces a future of "water wars", unless action is taken to prevent international water shortages and sanitation issues escalating into conflicts, according to Gareth Thomas, the International Development minister.

Last year, a group of retired American military officers warned that, left unchecked, climate change could lead to international instability.

Studies are suggesting a host of regional examples of the increased prospect of conflict caused by the reduction of arable land, water shortages, dwindling food and fish stocks, increased flooding and prolonged droughts which were already occurring.

President George W. Bush knows today whether the US will build the national and international frameworks needed to forge a low-carbon future. The business, scientific and political community has failed to coax that information from him. Perhaps if the Pentagon asks, he will answer.

Recent reports show that disasters could lead to civil disorder inside the United States and that extreme weather events, like hurricanes, could severely damage U.S. military bases, both at home and overseas.

We're used to hearing scientists warn us about climate change. Now a group of retired generals and admirals says global warming could provoke serious national security threats.

A new Congressional measure would order the Pentagon to undertake a series of war games to determine how global climate change could affect US security.

Climate change is creating the most difficult security problem since the Cold War, according to a senior UK foreign policy official.