"Hottest year on record provided setting for conclusive scientific findings as mushrooming climate movement pressed world leaders to act."

"Pope Francis next year will issue an edict urging the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics to take action to fight climate change."

Some 1300 species of mistletoe -- a plant long used to mark the solstice holiday -- defy many of the conventional ideas surrounding them.

"NASA scientists say that, during the summer, Arctic is absorbing 5 percent more of the sun’s incoming energy than just 15 years ago. The trend coincides with the steady decrease in Arctic sea ice during the same period."

"Greenhouse gas emissions by the world's top 500 companies rose 3.1 percent from 2010 to 2013, far off the cuts urged by the United Nations to limit global warming, a study showed on Monday."

"Radical environmentalists who threw acid and smoke bombs at Japanese whalers were found in contempt of court for continuing their relentless campaign to disrupt the annual whale hunt off the waters of Antarctica."

"British Trust for Ornithology finds 99% of birds avoid wind turbines, easing fears over the impact of blades but cation still needed."

"The latest word from scientists studying the Arctic is that the polar region is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. And researchers say the trend isn't letting up. That's the latest from the 2014 Arctic Report Card — a compilation of recent research from more than 60 scientists in 13 countries. The report was released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

"Two new studies are offering new warnings about the Greenland ice sheet and its future contribution to rising sea levels that could wreak havoc on coastal areas."