"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has bumped back the deadline until Sept. 28 for the six committees working on a comprehensive climate change and energy bill."

"The world's leading industrial nations tentatively agreed Wednesday to try to prevent global temperatures from rising above a fixed level, after a more far-reaching proposal to slash production of greenhouse gases fizzled... ."

"Hydrofluorocarbons ... are ... many thousands of times more potent than CO2 as climate warming agents, and scientists say their spread could become as much as 50 percent of the global greenhouse gas problem by 2050. Yet the public is barely aware of the issue, and as the White House works to hammer out its policy, it seems to want to keep it that way."

"Climate change could push dengue fever into all corners of the United States, as the mosquitoes that can carry the traditionally tropical virus survive warmer U.S. winters .... scientists at the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a report."

"Democrats in the Senate on Tuesday began a drive to advance climate change legislation, a top Obama administration priority, amid warnings that a bill recently passed by the House of Representatives to reduce carbon emissions would have to be changed."

"Major nations have failed to agree to set a goal halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to a draft document ahead of talks on Thursday -- a setback to efforts to secure a new U.N. climate pact."

"The Senate climate debate cranks up this week with a series of hearings and high-level meetings aimed at producing legislation that can be matched up with last month's House-passed bill."

"A new framework for reducing carbon emissions takes a crack at the knottiest dilemma confronting a global climate solution: how to divvy cuts between rich and poor nations."

"There is rising concern among polar bear biologists that the big recent summertime retreats of sea ice in the Arctic are already harming some populations of these seal-hunting predators."

"Wildlife biologists and climate scientists overwhelmingly agree that the disappearance of Arctic sea ice will lead to a sharp drop in polar bear populations. But some skeptics remain unconvinced, and they have managed to persuade the Canadian government not to take key steps to protect the animals."

The National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, NC, is playing a growing role in understanding weather and climate change.

"The U.S., European Union and 12 of the world's largest nations plan to embrace 'an aspirational goal' of reducing emissions of global-warming gases by 50% by 2050, according to a draft declaration by world leaders set for release next week in Italy."

"Proposals to impose 'carbon tariffs' on imported products will violate the rules of the World Trade Organization as well as the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol, China's Ministry of Commerce said."

If the United States wants to build a market-based approach to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, it should learn from Europe's failures.

"California can develop its own standards on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, though it agrees not to toughen the standards before 2017. Automakers agree to drop lawsuits."