"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."

"Paint with dangerously high lead levels is still being sold for household use worldwide, putting hundreds of millions of young children at risk of permanent brain damage," new research shows.

Chinese companies like Suntech are using government subsidies to leap ahead of the U.S. in the solar panel market.

A simple brass plaque in Tarusa, Russia, stands as a reminder of an epic tale of scores of nuclear disasters in the former Soviet Union that were hidden, or never completely reported.

"In an age of angst about security and Arctic sovereignty, it's no mean feat piecing together an oceanographic expedition involving scientists from the United States, Russia and elsewhere and launching the whole affair from a northern U.S. port."

"European police agency Europol expects further arrests in connection with suspected carbon credit tax fraud after Britain's tax office said two more people were arrested in London late on Wednesday, bringing the total to nine."

"A mysterious disease that has reduced honeybee populations in Europe and the United States could be caused in part by a virus, according to research."

"Midwestern Democrats, who want duties placed on countries who don't limit greenhouse gas emissions, are at odds with Obama."

"July was the hottest the world's oceans have been in almost 130 years of record-keeping. ... Meteorologists said there's a combination of forces at work this year: A natural El Nino system just getting started on top of worsening man-made global warming, and a dash of random weather variations. The resulting ocean heat is already harming threatened coral reefs. It could also hasten the melting of Arctic sea ice and help hurricanes strengthen."

"Scientists have identified a new source of chemical pollution released by the huge amounts of plastic rubbish found floating in the oceans of the world. A study has found that as plastics break down in the sea they release potentially toxic substances not found in nature and which could affect the growth and development of marine organisms."