"As the world tries to shift away from fossil fuels, the energy industry is turning to what seems to be an endless supply of renewable energy: wood. In England and across Europe, wood has become the renewable of choice, with forests — many of them in the U.S. — being razed to help feed surging demand. But as this five-month Climate Central investigation reveals, renewable energy doesn’t necessarily mean clean energy. Burning trees as fuel in power plants is heating the atmosphere more quickly than coal."

"Cuba on Wednesday launched an initiative to protect sharks in some of the most pristine habitat for the predators whose populations have been in steep decline."

"The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board has authorized a Shell Canada Ltd. drilling plan in the Shelburne Basin that allows the company between 12 and 13 days to contain subsea blowouts, but one environmental group is concerned the capping stack won't be housed here."

"Congress inched closer to setting a national standard for labeling genetically-modified foods Wednesday, even as farm-state Democrats and Republicans championed the safety of GMOs and voiced frustration that most consumers don’t agree."

"Doctors urged to address environmental exposures, especially with expectant parents."

"With each upward degree, global warming will singe the economies of three-quarters of the world's nations and widen the north-south gap between rich and poor countries, according to a new economic and science study."

"The United States is leading a shift away from using coal among leading industrialized democracies, with Japan the main laggard in policies that will help to combat climate change, according to a study on Wednesday."

"As the clock winds down, the Obama administration is artfully pushing its message on the Paris climate change negotiations, doing all that it can to guarantee a 'durable, credible, and universal' agreement is reached."

"September 2015 was the warmest such month for Planet Earth since such data began in 1880, and very likely long before that, according to data released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)."