"Droughts are already getting longer and more severe because of human-caused climate change in the American Southwest and around the world. But the drought-climate connection goes both ways: California's prolonged dry spell has also made climate change a little bit worse."

"2016 has crushed the record for hottest year, set way back in 2015, which itself smashed the previous record for hottest year that was set in 2014."

"President-elect Donald Trump’s energy agenda is shaping up to be a years-long effort to undo President Obama’s policies."

"There's more methane gas in the atmosphere than there used to be, by every scientific measure. The Obama administration has been trying to stem the increase of this powerful greenhouse gas, but the incoming Trump administration appears bent on keeping the government's hands off methane."

"The view from the observation deck over a meadow of brown marsh grasses would make a nice postcard. Eagles roost on tall pines, muskrats burrow in mounds of mud and straw, and black ducks splash in a pond."

"There was a time when whiting were plentiful in the waters of Rhode Island Sound, and Christopher Brown pulled the fish into his long stern trawler by the bucketful."

Attorney generals from states supporting President Obama's climate action plan signalled that efforts by Donald Trump to derail it will be met with legal challenges.

"Businesses might not find bargains by turning to fossil fuels in 2017, according to a new report. Solar and wind power costs have dropped, bearing price tags that are the same as or cheaper than fossil fuels in more than 30 nations as of the end of this year, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report published last week."

"Foreign governments concerned about climate change may soon be spending more time dealing with Sacramento than Washington."

"Half of the UK’s electricity came from wind turbines, solar panels, wood burning and nuclear reactors between July and September, in a milestone first."