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Dear EarthTalk: To what extent does human population growth impact global warming, and what can be done about it? -- Larry LeDoux, Honolulu, HI. No doubt human population growth is a major contributor to global warming, given that humans use fossil fuels to power their increasingly mechanized lifestyles. More people means more demand for oil, gas, coal and other fuels mined or drilled from below the Earth's surface that, when burned, spew enough carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere to trap warm air inside like a greenhouse.

President Obama sent two of his Cabinet secretaries to China this week to deal with the question of global warming. Both of them are of Chinese descent. That sent a ripple of interest through China's officialdom.

Five climate change pieces with something new to say: Two degrees of global warming -- the target the G8 nations last week approved as a maximum temperature rise allowable due to climate change (and which many argue is being made inevitable by slow political action in G8 nations) -- has been played in the media as a "moderate" target. It's not. Real Climate writes about a two-degree goal:

WWF provides interactive map predicting 'Global Climate Change Impacts in the U.S.'