Draft climate text under fire at Bonn talks
180 nations are meeting in Bonn to discuss the first draft of a new global warming treaty. The draft includes several conflicting proposals to reduce carbon emissions, pointing to tough negotiations ahead.
US fervently engaged to UN climate talks
The Obama administration is "powerfully and fervently " engaged in UN talks to forge a global climate treaty but cannot rescue the troubled process on its own.
Worst drought since 1961 devastates agriculture
Argentina's beef industry and wheat and corn production have been devastated by the country's most severe drought since 1961- a drought which has also affected agriculture in neighbouring Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil.
European freeze claims lives
With temperatures plummeting to as low as -25°C in eastern Europe, as many as 13 people have died in countries including Poland, Romania and Germany. Over in England, heating problems forced school closures.
Arctic ice volume lowest ever as earth warms
Despite an unusually cool 2008, the overall ice volume around the Arctic region continued its steady downward trend this year, the UN weather agency WMO warned in a report on the impact of climate extremes.







