climate change

The U.N.'s top climate negotiator, Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican, told Reddit users Wednesday that she's optimistic for success at the upcoming Paris climate talks, but frustrated with the pace of progress. She also praised Costa Rica for "its extremely clean energy generation."

The first nine months of this year were the hottest on record worldwide, U.S. government scientists said Wednesday, in another sign of the impact of dangerous global warming.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said the 195-nation climate negotiations in Bonn were "frustrating" and "slow." "We don't have any 'plan B' because we don't have any 'planet B,'" he said.

Carbon Engineering, backed by Bill Gates and other investors, unveiled a test facility able to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using giant fans.

On Wednesday and Thursday, 51 countries filed their climate action plans with the United Nations, a key step toward reaching an international accord at the Paris climate summit in December. Altogether, more than 130 nations accounting for about 85 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions have filed plans.

As rising temperatures cause flower populations to decline, bumblebees' tongues are getting shorter in an apparent trend away from specialization. Scientists believe that having shorter tongues allows the bees to be more generalized when it comes to the flowers they visit, giving them a wider range of food sources to choose from.

If the trend continues, there could be many consequences, including rising seas for the U.S. East Coast and, possibly, a difference in temperature overall in the North Atlantic and Europe.

Asked by CNN whether he agreed with Pope Francis that the issue is a pressing one, the Republican presidential frontrunner said "no."

There's a lot that Pope Francis gets right about climate change – in particular, a deep understanding of the ways it will affect the most vulnerable people and places in the world. Here are some of the highlights.

BERLIN — Volkswagen said irregularities on diesel-emission readings extend to 11 million vehicles around the world, forcing the German carmaker to set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) in an initial tally of the potential costs.