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The U.S. weather forecaster said there was an increased likelihood of an El Nino weather phenomenon striking during the Northern Hemisphere summer in its monthly outlook on Thursday. _0"> The Climate Prediction Center, an agency of the National Weather Service, said there was a 70 percent chance of El Nino, which can wreak havoc on global crops, during the summer and 80 percent during the fall and winter. (Reporting by Josephine Mason; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Global warming is causing trillions of dollars of damage to coral reefs, aggravating risks to tropical small island states threatened by rising sea levels, a U.N. report said on Thursday. The rise in sea levels off some islands in the Western Pacific was four times the global average, with gains of 1.2 cms (0.5 inch) a year from 1993 to 2012, due to shifts in winds and currents, said the United Nations' Environment Programme (UNEP). The study, released to mark the U.N.'s World Environment Day on June 5, said a warming of waters from the Indian Ocean to the Caribbean was damaging reefs by killing the tiny animals that form corals with their stony skeletons.   true       "These 52 nations, home to over 62 million people, emit less than one per cent of global greenhouse gases, yet they suffer disproportionately from the climate change that global emissions cause," said Achim Steiner, head of UNEP. "Some islands could become uninhabitable and others are faced w

class="mandelbrot_refrag"> China plans to cap its soaring emissions of greenhouse gases as soon as possible but has not yet decided when, Beijing's top negotiator at U.N. climate talks said on Thursday. Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, also welcomed U.S. measures to combat global warming, saying both nations were "working very hard to address climate change". "We will try our utmost to peak as early as possible," Xie told reporters on the sidelines of U.N. talks on global warming in Bonn, class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Germany , referring to greenhouse gases. "Opinions of the scientists and scholars differ quite a lot."   true       Actions by class="mandelbrot_refrag"> China and the United States, the top emitters of greenhouse gases, will be benchmarks for the ambitions of other nations when world leaders meet at a summit in Paris in late 2015 to agree a

The world's leading industrialised nations gave their backing on Thursday to a new global deal on climate change in 2015 after promises from the United States at the start of the week galvanised flagging momentum. The United States' plan to cut emissions from power plants by 30 percent by 2030 prompted the European Union into a defence of its own record. class="mandelbrot_refrag"> China , the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, also gave a hint that it would set some kind of cap on its emissions. In a communique after summit talks in Brussels, the G7 leaders affirmed their "strong determination" to adopt a new global deal in 2015 that is "ambitious, inclusive and reflects changing global circumstances". It said the G7 nations - Britain, Canada, class="mandelbrot_refrag"> France , class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Germany , class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Italy , Japan and the United States - rema

A faulty blowout preventer and weaknesses in how companies analyze potential hazards in offshore oil and gas operations contributed to BP Plc's deadly Gulf of class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Mexico oil spill more than four years ago, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said on Thursday. _0"> Despite tougher regulations, a slew of other investigations and an ongoing federal civil trial with potentially billions of dollars at stake, companies may still drill without demonstrating that they have adequate barriers in place to prevent deadly accidents, the agency said. The CSB, which has no enforcement authority but can recommend safer practices, routinely probes accidents at chemical plants and refineries. The BP investigation was its first involving an offshore accident.   true       The CSB did not examine all aspects of the Macondo blowout and explosion that killed 11 men and unleashed more than 4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf. Rather than re-examine issues

A low-pressure area over southern Bay of Campeche has a 40 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Friday. _0"> "Some development of this system is still possible over the next day or two while the low drifts generally northwestward toward eastern class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Mexico ," the Miami-based weather forecasters said. This disturbance has potential to produce extremely heavy rains and life-threatening flash floods and mud slides over parts of southeastern class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Mexico during the next few days, the NHC added. (Reporting by Anupam Chatterjee in Bangalore. Editing by Andre Grenon)

A low-pressure system over the southern Bay of Campeche has a 50 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Friday. _0"> "Regardless of development, this disturbance will continue to produce extremely heavy rains, along with life-threatening flash floods and mud slides, over portions of southeastern class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Mexico during the next few days," the Miami-based weather forecaster said. (Reporting by Ratul Ray Chaudhuri in Bangalore. Editing by Jane Merriman)