"Island nations at risk of being erased from the map by rising seas accused rich countries of losing sight of the urgency of the climate crisis on Thursday as a marathon U.N. summit in Madrid entered its final stretch."

"Extreme weather patterns associated with heat waves and droughts are raising the risks of simultaneous harvest failures of vital crops worldwide such as wheat, maize and soybeans, two studies published Monday found. This is pushing the world closer to the edge of potential food price spikes, associated social unrest and food shortages."

"The Greenland ice sheet’s losses have accelerated so fast since the 1990s it is now shedding more than seven times as much ice each year, according to 89 scientists who use satellites to study the area."

"MADRID — U.N. climate change talks enter the final week here on Monday as senior national officials arrive to try to hammer out rules to link the nascent carbon markets that are deemed critical to reaching the targets under the Paris Agreement."

"A quarter of the world’s population are at risk of water supply problems as mountain glaciers, snow-packs and alpine lakes are run down by global heating and rising demand, according to an international study."

"Children and young people must be at the heart of dealing with the climate crisis, the UN and campaigners have said as climate talks in Madrid enter their second week with little concrete progress."

"The world’s oceans are gasping for breath, a report issued Saturday at the annual global climate talks in Madrid has concluded."

"Around the world, humans are fracturing vast forests. Highways snake through the Amazon’s rain forests, and Indonesia plans an ambitious transportation grid in Borneo, through some of the largest untouched expanses of tropical forests. ... Conservation biologists have intensely debated the dangers that the fracturing of woodlands poses to animals."

"Economists say that carbon markets ... can become a powerful tool in the fight against climate change, by giving emitters a financial incentive to reduce greenhouse gases. But despite making progress in other areas, governments have for years been unable to agree on the rules that would allow truly global trade in carbon permits to flourish."