"U.S. EPA's plan to sidestep state officials and oversee climate rules in Texas has been temporarily blocked by a federal court, making the Lone Star State the only place where businesses cannot apply for greenhouse gas permits that the Obama administration now requires."

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will directly enforce new greenhouse-gas rules in parts of Arizona after the state refused to submit its own program for controlling the pollutants."

"Changes in Iowa's weather patterns, landscape, cities and farms have rendered some of the state's most trusted flood prevention safeguards outmoded and inadequate, a review by The Des Moines Register shows."

"Ski resorts are getting greener, and they're seeking recognition for it -- partly to boost their image with their environmentally-conscious clientele. To educate the public and recognize the best programs, one grass-roots organization, the Ski Area Citizens' Coalition, tracks the environmental impact and efforts of 82 ski areas in 11 Western states and has issued an annual report card each of the past 11 years."

"It may be heresy to conservatives, but a trip down memory lane shows nearly all of the top-tier Republican presidential contenders want to save the planet from global warming."

Global warming has brought the mountain pine beetle to whitebark pine trees in the Yellowstone ecosystem -- with wide-ranging repercussions for the ecosystem.

The earth's glaciers and icecaps seem to be melting faster in recent years. Climate change is suspected, but the behavior of the earth's cryosphere does not lend itself to simple generalizations.

"Japan postponed plans for a national emissions trading scheme on Tuesday, bowing to powerful business groups that warned of job losses as they compete against overseas rivals facing fewer emissions regulations."

The first big snowstorm of the year traditionally is celebrated by climate-change deniers. But the World Meteorological Organization says 2010 is on track to be one of the three warmest years on record. Indeed, according to some scientists, the snowstorm and global warming may be related.

"The thousands of tons of salt that made roads passable this week have not reached their final destination, nor had their final effect. As the snow melts, the salt will be flowing into storm drains and beyond, adding to the steady salting of the region's waterways."