Reuters, 6 October 2008 - Industrial innovation and a price on carbon emissions are needed to help mining firms on a long haul towards controlling climate change, Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese said on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Joe Biden and Sarah Palin agreed that climate change is real, but differed on whether human activity was its root cause in Thursday's U.S. vice presidential debate.

For scientists, this year's ice season was like the NHL playoffs. They placed bets, pored over satellite images, and speculated endlessly on how much Arctic ice would survive the summer.

Houston, of all places, suddenly has a sweeping plan to fight global warming. America's energy capital is seeking to slash emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases that contribute to climate change under the plan, which city officials released with little fanfare days before Hurricane Ike.

Governments around the world continue to pump billions of dollars into financial markets, but there is still no telling whether the "injections of liquidity" will be enough to prevent "this sucker" -- to quote the President of the United States -- from going down.

China is now the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, decades earlier than many predicted. Chinese emissions are often viewed as a Chinese production problem, but the role of spiraling consumption in rich nations should not be underestimated. One third of China's territorial emissions come from producing exports.

When it comes to climate change, the scientific evidence has to be at the core of any decision-making. Governments need to understand the consequences of choosing particular targets, but they also need to understand what will happen if targets are missed or if they cannot be agreed on by all countries. Failures could have far-reaching consequences.

SACRAMENTO - California embarked Tuesday on a sweeping effort to curb suburban sprawl by rewarding communities that build homes and workplaces closer together to reduce pollution that contributes to global warming. However, a multibillion-dollar proposal to curb air pollution near the state's ports was rejected by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who concluded that the related cargo fees would harm an already suffering economy.

In 1991, Norway became one of the first countries in the world to impose a stiff tax on harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Since then, the country's emissions should have dropped. Instead, they have risen by 15%. Although the tax forced Norway's oil and gas sector to become among the greenest in the world, soaring energy prices led to a boom in offshore production, which in turn boosted overall emissions. So did drivers. Norwegians, who already pay nearly $10 a gallon, took the tax in stride, buying more cars and driving them more. And numerous industries won exemptions from the tax, carrying on unchanged.

Summer 2008 in Southern California goes down in the books as cooler than normal. The thermometer in downtown Los Angeles topped 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) just once in July, August and the first two-thirds of September. But don't expect this summer's respite from the usual blistering heat to continue in the years to come, cautions a group of NASA and university scientists: The long-term forecast calls for increased numbers of scorching days and longer, more frequent heat waves.

Following a record-breaking season of arctic sea ice decline in 2007, NASA scientists have kept a close watch on the 2008 melt season. Although the melt season did not break the record for ice loss, NASA data are showing that for a four-week period in August 2008, sea ice melted faster during that period than ever before.

With a predicted sea level rise of one metre by 2100, Vietnam may end up being one of the nations worst hit by climate change. Such a rise would affect five percent of the land area, 11 percent of the population and seven percent of the agriculture. With worsening storms and flooding already lapping at its shores, this South-east Asian country is heeding the dire warnings.

California plans to host a meeting of several countries in November to discuss ways to limit greenhouse gas emissions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Friday. The governor's office has invited China, India, European countries, Australia, Canada and Mexico to a meeting ahead of international climate talks the following month in Poland. Details still are being worked out.

ACHACACHI, Bolivia (Reuters) - As Bolivia erupted into violence this month over President Evo Morales' leftist reforms, the future of farmers like Julio Mamani hangs in the balance.

BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Rescue workers evacuated some 200,000 people after flooding by one of India's largest rivers killed 16 people at the weekend, while overflowing rivers inundated parts of Nepal and killed 17 people, officials said on Sunday.

As international climate negotiations move closer to including forests in the successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, indigenous and traditional peoples realize they have either a lot to gain or everything to lose.

Forestland half the size of Texas is being saved to help thwart climate change.

Arctic sea ice has reached the second lowest extent ever recorded, according to the US national snow and ice centre, and a new map shows how far the 2008 melt has receded compared to the historical average.

EurActiv.com, 16 September 2008 - The Commission has rejected the notion that farmers should implement river basin management schemes in exchange for agricultural subsidies, despite increasing fears over water shortages and droughts.

Hurricane Ike barreled into the densely populated Texas coast near Houston early on Saturday, bringing with it a wall of water and ferocious winds and rain that could cause catastrophic flooding along the Gulf of Mexico and cripple the fourth-largest U.S. city. Ike, which has idled more than a fifth of U.S. oil production, came ashore at the barrier island city of Galveston as a strong Category 2 storm at 2:10 a.m. CDT (3:10 a.m. EDT) with 110 mph winds, the National Hurricane Center said.

Most years, the Kosi river of eastern India is a tranquil stream that flows gently into the Ganges. But every few years it becomes a raging torrent, wreaking disaster on everything in its path.

Hurricane Ike gathered strength as it churned through the Gulf of Mexico's warm waters on Thursday on a track that would skirt the heart of the U.S. offshore oil patch before slamming into the Texas coast late on Friday or early on Saturday.

When comparing the U.S. presidential candidates' green credentials, both contenders support greater action to address climate change through a cap on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. While Republican candidate John McCain's reduction targets are more modest than the promises of Democrat Barack Obama, either candidate should offer a significant shift from the largely stalled policies of the current administration.

Hurricane Ike swirled over the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, targeting Texas near the U.S. offshore oil patch after toppling decrepit buildings in Cuba's capital and ripping the communist-run island from end to end.

Prominent climate scientists criticized the Australian government's top climate adviser on Tuesday, saying his recommended targets for carbon emissions were too weak and would not help avoid catastrophic climate change.