The Democratic Party of Japan, which won that nation's elections Sunday, is poised to slash Japan's greenhouse emissions by up to 25 percent, which could have an impact on climate treaty negotiations.

"A $774 billion plan to power Europe with Sahara sunlight is gaining momentum, even as critics see high risks in a large corporate project using young technology in north African countries with weak rule of law."

"How much longer will the 'Oil Age' last?"

"Government scientists who study the depletion of Earth’s protective ozone layer are pointing to a previously unheralded culprit: nitrous oxide."

"Archaeologists who study early hunter-gatherer societies are discovering that even the simplest cultures altered their environments, whether they meant to or not."

One key chemical tool used to control mosquito-spread malaria in the developing world -- DDT -- has harmful environmental consequences. Now a new article in the journal Nature tells of research on chemicals that may promise to be effective mosquito repellants by blocking the insects' ability to detect carbon dioxide.

"Wild animals normally are killed by cancer only in rare cases. But scientists are finding that some deadly cancers in animals--including Quebec's belugas, California sea lions and North Sea flounder--seem to be triggered or accelerated by environmental contaminants."

Until last August, the Swiss-made reusable aluminum bottles that were an eco-icon, were lined with an epoxy containing trace amounts of BPA, which the Canadian federal government considers a toxic substance.

"Illegal fishing is depleting the seas and robbing poor nations in Africa and Asia of resources, but a lack of global cooperation is undermining efforts to track rogue vessels, an environmental group said on Tuesday."

"UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to visit a Norwegian island deep inside the Arctic Circle, near the North Pole, to see firsthand the effects of climate change, his spokeswoman said."