"UNITED NATIONS — More than half of the world’s oceans belong to no one, which often makes their riches ripe for plunder. Now, countries around the world have taken the first step to protect the precious resources of the high seas."

"Climate change is essentially tied with the Islamic State as the most-feared security threat across much of the world — except in the United States, where cyberattacks are considered a greater danger than global warming, according to a Pew Research Center report released on Tuesday."

"Intensifying rainfall linked with a warmer and wetter atmosphere is increasing nitrogen pollution in rivers and oceans, exacerbating algae growth and expanding dead zones in coastal areas.

"In the summer of 2010, Russia faced a severe drought, a heat wave and a series of catastrophic wildfires, destroying a third of the country’s wheat harvest. Half a year later, the Arab Spring began."

"When the boss of Europe’s biggest listed oil company says his next car will be electric, it says a lot about the future of fossil fuels."

"Yet another floating mass of microscopic plastic has been discovered in the ocean, and it is mind-blowingly vast."

"The quality of sperm from men in North America, Europe and Australia has declined dramatically over the past 40 years, with a 52.4 percent drop in sperm concentration, according to a study published Tuesday."

"The tropical forests in western Uganda, home to a dwindling population of endangered chimpanzees, are disappearing at some of the fastest rates on Earth as local people chop down trees for charcoal and to clear space for subsistence farming."

"If human civilization were to be destroyed and its cities wiped off the map, there would be an easy way for future intelligent life-forms to know when the mid-20th century began: plastic."

"Scientists worry the next devastating disease could be born where animals and humans mix in a Third World slum – then cross the globe. Zika may have been a preview."