"Major snowstorms are set to bury the mid-Atlantic states this weekend after record snowfalls in December. Last month California was awash in rain. The Gulf states have seen heavy weather lately as well. Turns out it's not just a run of bad luck. What's behind a lot of this winter's weather is El Nino... ."

"FRANKFURT -- Carbon trading registries in half of Europe have been hit by hackers who broke security systems to steal emissions rights certificates from companies last week to sell them on, the Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing officials."

"The study that first suggested a link between vaccines and autism and spurred a long-running, acrimonious debate over the safety of vaccines has been retracted by the British medical journal that published it. The withdrawal supports the scientific evidence that vaccinations don't cause autism, but isn't likely to persuade advocacy groups that believe in a link."

"The U. S. military is long gone from bases in the Philippines, but its legacy remains buried here. Toxic waste was spilled on the ground, pumped into waterways and buried in landfills for decades at two sprawling Cold War-era bases."

"Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has called in a new audiotape for the world to boycott American goods and the U.S. dollar, blaming the United States and other industrialized countries for global warming."

"The United States pledged Thursday to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels under an international climate agreement, though it made its commitment contingent on passing legislation at home."

"Climate change could more than triple the risk of catastrophic wildfires in parts of Australia, a top environmental group warned Thursday, almost a year since savage firestorms that killed 173 people."

"Talks on a landmark treaty to cut Cold War nuclear arsenals are nearly complete, U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev agreed in a telephone call on Wednesday."

"The tourism industry could fund payments for ecosystem services to underwrite and insure its investments. And by harnessing private-sector investment, billions of dollars worth of vulnerable yet valuable marine and coastal ecosystems could avoid Cancun’s fate, says a growing group of governmental organizations, environmental groups and non-governmental organizations."