LONDON (Reuters) – Rising carbon dioxide emissions will cause a global average temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius by 2052 and a 2.8 degree rise by 2080, as governments and markets are unlikely to do enough against climate change, the Club of Rome think tank said.

Failing to tackle climate change in the first half of this century will put the world on a dangerous track to warming in the second half, even though global population should peak in 2042 at 8.1 billion and economic growth will be much slower than expected in mature economies, the Switzerland-based body said in a report on Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) – Plants are flowering faster than scientists predicted in response to climate change, research in the United States showed on Wednesday, which could have devastating knock-on effects for food chains and ecosystems.

Global warming is having a significant impact on hundreds of plant and animal species around the world, changing some breeding, migration and feeding patterns, scientists say.

LONDON (Reuters) – Some of the main proposals in a draft text for negotiation at a U.N. sustainable development conference next month are being watered down at informal talks in New York, observers said on Tuesday, heightening fears the summit will fail to deliver.

The Rio+20 summit in Brazil from June 20-22 is expected to draw more than 50,000 participants from governments, companies and environmental and lobby groups.

LONDON (Reuters) – Large wind farms might have a warming effect on the local climate, research in the United States showed on Sunday, casting a shadow over the long-term sustainability of wind power.

Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels contribute to global warming, which could lead to the melting of glaciers, sea level rise, ocean acidification, crop failure and other devastating effects, scientists say.

LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) – Large wind farms might have a
warming effect on the local climate, research in the United
States showed on Sunday, casting a shadow over the long-term
sustainability of wind power.

Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from burning
fossil fuels contribute to global warming, which could lead to
the melting of glaciers, sea level rise, ocean acidification,
crop failure and other devastating effects, scientists say.

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) – Britain’s North Sea has the
potential to lead the world in offshore wind and carbon capture
and storage technology, British Prime Minister David Cameron
said as over 20 companies signed a deal to turn the region into
a major renewable energy hub.

Major utilities such as Britain’s Scottish Power
and Norway’s Statoil, manufacturers ranging from
Siemens to Gamesa and supply chain companies
are supporting a plan to develop the offshore wind potential of
the North Sea, provisionally named Norstec.

LONDON (Reuters) – Austerity measures threaten to delay the uptake of low-carbon technologies as state budget cuts have resulted in the lowest clean energy investments in three years, said the UK’s Energy Secretary on Wednesday.

“The risk is that recession delays low-carbon investment, leaving us a high-carbon legacy even when the global economy recovers,” Edward Davey said addressing energy ministers from 23 countries at the opening of a two-day clean energy summit in London, the day figures also showed Britain itself had slipped back into recession.

LONDON (Reuters) – Some glaciers in the Himalayas mountain range have gained a small amount of mass between 1999 and 2008, new research shows, bucking the global trend of glacial decline.

The study published on Sunday in the Nature Geoscience journal also said the Karakoram mountain range in the Himalayas has contributed less to sea level rise than previously thought.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s energy plans call for tapping Iceland’s geothermal resources in a move that could rekindle talk of creating a “supergrid” for electricity linking the continent, UK, North Africa and Iceland.

But experts say the project is too expensive and technically challenging to be feasible in the foreseeable future.

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union ambassadors failed to resolve a dispute over the allocation of seats on the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund (GCF) board on Friday, possibly undermining the bloc’s credibility in international climate talks.

The EU envoys were meeting for the second time in a week to decide which European nations will be represented on the governing board. This has 12 seats for developing countries and another 12 for developed countries.