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Potent, climate-warming gases are being emitted into the atmosphere but are not being recorded in official inventories, a BBC investigation has found. Air monitors in Switzerland have detected large quantities of one gas coming from a location in Italy. However, the Italian submission to the UN records just a tiny amount of the substance being emitted. Levels of some emissions from India and China are so uncertain that experts say their records are plus or minus 100%.

Delta Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines have all banned big-game trophies from their cargo holds after the public outcry regarding the illegal killing of Cecil, a beloved lion, at the hands of a Minnesota man. Hunting advocates say their pastime is needed to fund conservation in Africa and warn that the backlash could lead to a sharp reduction in lion populations. "Through the sales of hunting licenses, equipment, tags, and so on, sportsmen contribute $2.9 billion every year for conservation," according to Olivia Nalos Opre, co-host of a hunting-themed TV show. BBC (8/4), FoxNews.com (8/4) 

Norway is pioneering the use of captured carbon emissions to grow an algal soup that can be used as food for farmed fish, helping to reduce overfishing of the wild krill upon which fish farms more typically rely.

Levels of CO2 in the atmosphere have surged past an important threshold and may not dip below it for "many generations." The 400 parts per million benchmark was broken globally for the first time in recorded history in 2015. But according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), 2016 will likely be the first full year to exceed the mark.

Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is present at 400 parts per million for the first time ever -- a level that's 44% greater than CO2 levels prior to the Industrial Revolution, says a World Meteorological Organization report. Improvements in the near future could reduce CO2 levels by the 2060s, says WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

Scotland surpassed its goal to cut GHG emissions by 42% six years ahead of schedule, according to figures published by the Scottish government. As a result, the Scottish government plans to set a new 2020 goal to further reduce GHG emissions.

China pledged to reduce its CO2 emissions by 60-65% per unit of GDP by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. The country also pledged to procure 20% of its electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.

Forest fires in Indonesia have resulted in a smoky haze that is blanketing the region and affecting neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.

Japanese car manufacturing giant Toyota is committing to all but eliminate carbon emissions from its production processes by 2050.

California Governor Jerry Brown and Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon have signed a joint agreement to work together to tackle climate change and "capitalise on the huge potential of the Under2 MoU, the ambitious commitment to bold and decisive climate action covering over one billion people and over a third of the global economy to which both jurisdictions are signatories."