1Record warmth: This year has ranked among the nine warmest since records began more than 160 years ago, continuing a trend for the planet that is increasing the dangers of extreme weather events, according to UN meteorologists.
2 Hurricane Sandy: Scientists say the storm surge along the Atlantic coast was almost certainly intensified by decades of sea-level rise linked to human emissions of greenhouse gases. They emphasised that Hurricane Sandy, whatever its causes, should be seen as a foretaste of trouble to come as the seas rise faster, the risks of climate change accumulate and the political system fails to respond.
3 Kudankulam woes: In a small coastal village called Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, a nuclear plant has stirred a great amount of controversy. Establishing a nuclear plant close to the sea is said to affect marine life and pollute the sea.
4 Warming in Antarctica: In the Antarctic glaciers, thousands of feet deep into the sediment, geothermal heat keeps things warm enough for microbes to keep producing methane. A scientific report published in September suggests that as the methane gas diffuses upward, it enters a zone where it feels not only the pressure but also the cold of the overlying ice sheet. Once the ice melts, this methane escapes into the atmosphere which increases the rate of warming here.
5 Radioactivity: The Middle East and North Africa suffer from water shortages and pump millions of litres a day from ancient aquifers. But the water contains high levels of naturally-occurring radioactive contamination, reports a study conducted in November.
6Emission alert: Scientists warn that if humans continue to emit the same amount of greenhouse gases into the air, the average global temperature will rise by an additional 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The earth has already grown warmer by about 1 degree Celsius over the last 100 years, making a total change of 3 degrees Celsius.
7 Melting ice: Studies on climate change reveal that polar ice sheets are shrinking fast. The study, published in the journal, Science, this month, says in a 20-year span, Greenland has lost 152 billion tons a year of ice, West Antarctica has lost 65 billion tons a year, the Antarctic Peninsula has lost 20 billion tons a year, and East Antarctica has gained 14 billion tons a year.
8So long, George: George, the last giant tortoise of his subspecies in the Galapagos, was found dead in his corral at the Charles Darwin Research Station on the morning of June 24 - to the shock of his devoted caretakers, who had hoped he would survive for decades to continue his line. George, was thought to be around 100.
9 Species count: For two years, entomologists hoisted themselves up in cranes amid the towering trees of the Panamanian tropics.
They have come up with an informed estimate on the biodiversity of arthropods. It took another eight years to identify the 129,494 specimens, and to extrapolate that number to come up with an estimate of six million species.
10 Anti-whaling hunt: Anti-whaling nations recently urged environmental activists not to take any action endangering human life as Japan's fleet prepared to set sail for its annual hunt. Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United States said in a statement that they respected the right to peaceful protests but would use the force of the law against any 'unlawful activity'.
2 Hurricane Sandy: Scientists say the storm surge along the Atlantic coast was almost certainly intensified by decades of sea-level rise linked to human emissions of greenhouse gases. They emphasised that Hurricane Sandy, whatever its causes, should be seen as a foretaste of trouble to come as the seas rise faster, the risks of climate change accumulate and the political system fails to respond.
3 Kudankulam woes: In a small coastal village called Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, a nuclear plant has stirred a great amount of controversy. Establishing a nuclear plant close to the sea is said to affect marine life and pollute the sea.
4 Warming in Antarctica: In the Antarctic glaciers, thousands of feet deep into the sediment, geothermal heat keeps things warm enough for microbes to keep producing methane. A scientific report published in September suggests that as the methane gas diffuses upward, it enters a zone where it feels not only the pressure but also the cold of the overlying ice sheet. Once the ice melts, this methane escapes into the atmosphere which increases the rate of warming here.
5 Radioactivity: The Middle East and North Africa suffer from water shortages and pump millions of litres a day from ancient aquifers. But the water contains high levels of naturally-occurring radioactive contamination, reports a study conducted in November.
6Emission alert: Scientists warn that if humans continue to emit the same amount of greenhouse gases into the air, the average global temperature will rise by an additional 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The earth has already grown warmer by about 1 degree Celsius over the last 100 years, making a total change of 3 degrees Celsius.
7 Melting ice: Studies on climate change reveal that polar ice sheets are shrinking fast. The study, published in the journal, Science, this month, says in a 20-year span, Greenland has lost 152 billion tons a year of ice, West Antarctica has lost 65 billion tons a year, the Antarctic Peninsula has lost 20 billion tons a year, and East Antarctica has gained 14 billion tons a year.
8So long, George: George, the last giant tortoise of his subspecies in the Galapagos, was found dead in his corral at the Charles Darwin Research Station on the morning of June 24 - to the shock of his devoted caretakers, who had hoped he would survive for decades to continue his line. George, was thought to be around 100.
9 Species count: For two years, entomologists hoisted themselves up in cranes amid the towering trees of the Panamanian tropics.
They have come up with an informed estimate on the biodiversity of arthropods. It took another eight years to identify the 129,494 specimens, and to extrapolate that number to come up with an estimate of six million species.
10 Anti-whaling hunt: Anti-whaling nations recently urged environmental activists not to take any action endangering human life as Japan's fleet prepared to set sail for its annual hunt. Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the United States said in a statement that they respected the right to peaceful protests but would use the force of the law against any 'unlawful activity'.