Climate Change (Global Warming)

AP FILE PHOTO

Global warming has again taken a world stage in the wake of Climategate and December's climate conference in Copenhagen. World leaders struck a nonbinding accord at the conference, and the next deadline for a treaty will be the 2010 U.N. climate conference in Mexico City.

SPECIAL REPORT

Part 1: High seas eroding Texas coastline
Part 2: Global warming likely to mean more droughts and more floods
Part 3: Farmers suffer from heat, water loss
Part 4: Birds' patterns changing in face of global warming
Part 5: How Texas is responding to global warming
The race is on to save the state's wetlands

MULTIMEDIA & EXTRAS

Graphic: World CO2 emissions increase
Graphic: Indicators show warming after treaty
Interactive: County-by-county carbon emissions
Interactive: Climate future: Steps some countries are taking
Interactive: Results of AP-Stanford poll on global warming
Interactive: Climate conference draws eclectic mix of humanity
Interactive: Climate conference: Nations to evaluate progress and set new goals
Interactive: Climate change: Key dates of the global warming story
Interactive: Global warming: Cities vulnerable to rising waters
Interactive: The northern front: A forewarning of changes
Timelines: Key dates | Decade in a nutshell
In a nutshell: New Copenhagen accord
Key issues: Copenhagen talks
Speech: Obama's remarks at UN climate conference
Forum: Talk about global warming

ON THE WEB

Recent Stories:

U.N. eyes private help in $100 billion climate aid

Web Posted: 07/14/2010 12:00 CDT

A pledge by rich nations in Copenhagen to provide as much as $100 billion a year of climate-related aid to developing countries by 2020 may depend in part on the generosity of private donors and other non-governmental sources.

'Climategate' inquiry mostly vindicates scientists

Web Posted: 07/08/2010 12:00 CDT

An independent report into the leak of hundreds of e-mails from one of the world's leading climate research centers on Wednesday largely vindicated the scientists involved, saying they acted honestly and that their research was reliable.

Review: Climate errors negligible

Web Posted: 07/06/2010 12:00 CDT

The review claimed that none of the errors effected the fundamental conclusion by U.N. panel of scientists: that global warming caused by humans already is happening and is threatening the lives and well-being of millions of people.

New climate chief: 'No option' but to take action

Web Posted: 06/10/2010 12:00 CDT

World nations have no choice but to join forces to stop global warming, but achieving a legally binding treaty this year should not be the only focus, the new U.N. climate chief said Wednesday.

Developing nations: Climate change treaty in 2010

Web Posted: 04/27/2010 9:49 CDT

South Africa hosts developing countries on climate talk

Web Posted: 04/24/2010 11:19 CDT

As the world struggles to break a deadlock in climate change negotiations, South Africa and three other influential developing nations are gathering for a strategy session to ensure poor countries are heard.

Maldives: U.N. climate summit must make big cuts

Web Posted: 04/24/2010 12:00 CDT

The president of the Maldives warned Friday that the world is running out of time to stall climate change and said he hoped a U.N. climate summit in Mexico this year would put the international community on track to adopting a new global warming treaty.

Contentious climate talks end with deal to do more

Web Posted: 04/14/2010 12:00 CDT

Delegates to the first U.N. climate talks after Copenhagen have agreed to intensify their negotiations on curbing greenhouse gases before this year's decisive ministerial conference in Cancun, Mexico.

Mexicans plan smaller meetings for climate summit

Web Posted: 04/10/2010 9:09 CDT

Take the microphones away, close the doors, and negotiators tend to be a lot more reasonable. That became apparent to Mexico last month when it organized a forum to prepare for the U.N. climate conference this weekend in Bonn — the first since the rancorous and disappointing Copenhagen summit last December in which delegates reached only a threadbare agreement.

Post-Copenhagen climate talks begin amid discord

Web Posted: 04/10/2010 12:00 CDT

The United States gave a spirited defense Friday of the threadbare agreement reached in Copenhagen against a barrage of criticism that the deal was struck by "a select few" that cast doubt on its legitimacy.

Climate talks could pick up from failed summit

Web Posted: 04/09/2010 12:00 CDT

Climate change negotiators convening this weekend are hoping to renew momentum on a new global warming treaty after setbacks at the Copenhagen summit four months ago — but the talks could easily turn into a round of recriminations.

U.N. official expects no climate deal until 2011

Web Posted: 03/31/2010 11:05 CDT

A new legal agreement committing nations around the world to curb greenhouse gas emissions is unlikely to be completed before the end of 2011, two years later than originally envisioned, the top U.N. climate official said.

U.K. 'Climategate' inquiry largely clears scientists

Web Posted: 03/31/2010 12:00 CDT

The first of several British investigations into the e-mails leaked from one of the world's leading climate research centers has largely vindicated the scientists involved.

U.N. envoy questions China stance on climate

Web Posted: 03/29/2010 12:00 CDT

A global climate deal will not happen soon if China maintains the view that it is not historically responsible for today's global warming, special UN climate change envoy Gro Harlem Brundtland said Sunday.

EU changes strategy on promoting climate change

Web Posted: 03/27/2010 12:00 CDT

The failure to agree on legally binding limits for greenhouse gas emissions at the Copenhagen summit has forced Europe to shift its approach to climate change diplomacy, the European Union president said Friday.

U.N. chief wants U.N. in charge of climate talks

Web Posted: 03/17/2010 12:00 CDT

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday the United Nations will remain in charge of talks on a new global climate change accord, dismissing a shift to negotiations with a streamlined group of countries suggested by U.N. climate envoy Gro Harlem Brundtland.

China alleges diplomatic snub at Copenhagen summit

Web Posted: 03/16/2010 11:08 CDT

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said he was snubbed at last year's Copenhagen climate change conference and fired back Sunday at critics who accuse China of arrogance.

Meeting on deforestation boosts morale, budget

Web Posted: 03/13/2010 12:00 CST

A conference bringing together more than 60 nations added $1 billion to the fight against deforestation and boosted the morale of those hoping to save the world's forests — a key defense against global warming.

Mexico's tourism secretary to organize climate conference

Web Posted: 03/11/2010 12:00 CST

After three years of touting Mexico's sunshine and beaches, tourism secretary Rodolfo Elizondo has a new job: organizing an international climate change conference.

World's top scientists to review climate panel

Web Posted: 03/11/2010 12:00 CST

At a tumultuous time in U.N.-led climate negotiations, one of the world's most credible scientific groups agreed Wednesday to plug the recent cracks in the authoritative reports of the United Nations' Nobel Prize-winning global warming panel.

Deforestation conference to turn plans to action

Web Posted: 03/11/2010 12:00 CST

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will open a daylong conference Thursday of some 40 nations to start turning plans into action to save the world's forests and help rein in the noxious gases blamed for climate change.

China tells U.S. to do more on climate change

Web Posted: 03/11/2010 12:00 CST

China told the United States on Wednesday to make stronger commitments on climate change and provide environmental expertise and financing to developing nations.

Gabon president ties U.N. peace costs to climate

Web Posted: 03/10/2010 12:00 CST

Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba said Tuesday that world leaders can reduce the costs of U.N. peacekeeping by doing more to prevent armed conflicts, notably through adopting long-range plans to reduce climate change.

China, India give qualified nod to climate deal

Web Posted: 03/10/2010 12:00 CST

China joined India on Tuesday in giving qualified approval to the Copenhagen climate accord calling for voluntary limits on greenhouse gas emissions.

End to bickering urged to achieve new climate pact

Web Posted: 02/27/2010 12:00 CST

Environmental officials urged industrialized and developing countries Friday to stop bickering in climate change negotiations, as a Chinese delegate accused rich nations of reneging on commitments to fight global warming.

Official: Climate change treaty unlikely this year

Web Posted: 02/26/2010 12:00 CST

Industrialized and developing countries are not likely to reach a treaty this year on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which have sparked fears of weather-related disasters, the U.N. climate chief said Thursday.

U.N. weather meeting agrees to refine climate data

Web Posted: 02/25/2010 12:00 CST

World weather agencies have agreed to collect more precise temperature data to improve climate change science, officials said Wednesday, as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged environment ministers to reject efforts by skeptics to derail a global climate deal.

U.N. climate talks to resume in April in Germany

Web Posted: 02/24/2010 12:00 CST

The United Nations says formal negotiations on an international treaty to control global warming will resume in Bonn in April, four months after the failed climate change summit in Copenhagen.

U.N. chief: Reject skeptics, climate danger is real

Web Posted: 02/24/2010 3:22 CST

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged environment ministers Wednesday to reject attempts by skeptics to undermine efforts to forge a climate change deal, stressing that global warming poses "a clear and present danger."

U.N. climate chief quits, leaves talks hanging

Web Posted: 02/18/2010 9:14 CST

Exhausted and frustrated by unrelenting bickering between rich and poor countries, Yvo de Boer said Thursday he will step down July 1 to work in business and academia.

U.N. taps prime ministers to seek new climate money

Web Posted: 02/13/2010 12:00 CST

The U.N. chief tapped the prime ministers of Britain and Ethiopia on Friday to lead the hunt for hundreds of billions of dollars that nations pledged to contribute this decade for dealing with climate change.

Scientists seek better way to do climate report

Web Posted: 02/11/2010 12:00 CST

A steady drip of unsettling errors is exposing what scientists are calling "the weaker link" in the Nobel Peace Prize-winning series of international reports on global warming.

U.N. climate chief defends panel report findings

Web Posted: 02/05/2010 12:00 CST

Errors in an authoritative report about the impact of global warming on Himalayan glaciers should not detract from the overall conclusions drawn in the study, the U.N. climate chief said Thursday.

U.N. says nations' greenhouse gas pledges too little

Web Posted: 02/03/2010 12:00 CST

Goals on reducing greenhouse gases announced by major industrialized nations are a step forward but not enough to forestall the disastrous effects of climate change by midcentury, U.N. officials said Monday.

EU: Other regions must cut greenhouse gases more

Web Posted: 01/29/2010 12:00 CST

The European Union told a United Nations climate change panel Thursday that it won't improve its offer to reduce greenhouse gas emissions until other regions also agree to cuts.

Watchdog: U.K. university hid climate data

Web Posted: 01/29/2010 12:00 CST

The university at the center of a climate change dispute over stolen e-mails broke freedom of information laws by refusing to handle public requests for climate data, Britain's data-protection watchdog said Thursday.

U.N. panel chief won't quit for Himalayan melt error

Web Posted: 01/23/2010 9:38 CST

The head of a panel of United Nations climate scientists said Saturday he would not resign despite a recent admission that a panel report warning Himalayan glaciers could be gone by 2035 was hundreds of years off.

Climate change talks set for New Delhi end January

Web Posted: 01/21/2010 12:00 CST

Environment ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China will meet in the Indian capital to discuss how they will fight climate change ahead of a Jan. 31 deadline set by the Copenhagen Accord.

De Boer says Copenhagen Accord deadline is 'soft'

Web Posted: 01/21/2010 12:00 CST

Countries will be able to give their backing to the nonbinding Copenhagen climate change accord beyond the deadline set for Jan. 31, the U.N.'s climate chief said Wednesday.

Climate change's failing doctrine obvious

Web Posted: 01/15/2010 12:00 CST

Cal Thomas: Will experts admit their mistakes?

EU to pursue climate deal through G-20

Web Posted: 01/08/2010 11:33 CST

The EU says it will pursue a new deal on global warming through the Group of 20, since last month's U.N. climate conference of nearly 200 nations led to unwieldy negotiations that didn't accomplish much.

Global warming a tough sell for the human psyche

Web Posted: 12/18/2009 2:46 CST

The Copenhagen talks on climate change were convened with a sense of urgency that many ordinary folks don't share. Why is that? One big reason: It's hard for people to get excited about a threat that seems far away in space and time, psychologists say.

More Climate Change coverage

China: Climate talks yielded 'positive' results

Web Posted: 12/20/2009 12:06 CST

China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, lauded Sunday the outcome of a historic U.N. climate conference that ended with a nonbinding agreement that urges major polluters to make deeper emissions cuts — but does not require it.

Obama raced clock, chaos, comedy for climate deal

Web Posted: 12/19/2009 10:10 CST

Obama's 15-hour, seat-of-the-pants dash through Copenhagen was marked by doggedness, confusion and semi-comedy. Constrained by partisan politics at home, and quarrels between rich and poor nations abroad, he was determined to come home with a victory, no matter how imperfect.

Climate talks end with eye on next year

Web Posted: 12/19/2009 10:08 CST

A historic U.N. climate conference ended with only a nonbinding "Copenhagen Accord" to show for two weeks of debate and frustration. It was a deal short on concrete steps against global warming, but signaling a new start for rich-poor cooperation on climate change.

Climate reality: Voluntary efforts not enough

Web Posted: 12/19/2009 10:06 CST

Around the world, countries and capitalism are already working to curb global warming on their own, with or without a global treaty. But the impact of such piecemeal, voluntary efforts is small. Experts say it will never be enough without the kind of strong global agreement that eluded negotiators at the U.N. summit this past week in Copenhagen.

Forest plan gets the ax at UN climate talks

Web Posted: 12/19/2009 9:57 CST

A plan to protect the world's biologically rich tropical forests by paying poor nations to protect them was shelved Saturday after world leaders failed to agree on a binding deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Thin climate accord a small step in long process

Web Posted: 12/19/2009 9:54 CST

A furious final two days of climate diplomacy and presidential brinkmanship produced 2 1/2 thin pages called the Copenhagen Accord, a deal vague at times in meaning, rejected by some, lacking any teeth.

Acid oceans: The 'evil twin' of climate change

Web Posted: 12/19/2009 12:00 CST

Oceans absorb about 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gases pumped into the atmosphere from human activities each year, says a new U.N. report released at the Copenhagen talks this week. That helps slow global warming in the atmosphere, the focus of the Copenhagen talks.