To give a better sense of the challenge facing these areas, here is data pulled together and mapped from two sources With a rising global population, increasing water use per capita and depleting reserves of groundwater, there's no doubt that blue gold, as water is sometimes called, is an increasingly precious resource.

"Observational evidence from all continents and most oceans shows that many natural systems are being affected by regional climate changes, particularly temperature increases." -Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2007 Explore the signs of global warming on this map or Google Earth.

The climate debate rages on without progress, but a 'meeting of moderate minds' might be the answer

June 21 marked both the summer and winter solstice, the longest or shortest day of the year for sunlight depending on which hemisphere you reside. Here are some glimpses of the power, beauty, and transforming presence of the sun, taken since the beginning of June

Tory MEPs who are threatening to undermine David Cameron over tougher European climate change targets have been warned that their behaviour risks ruining Britain's reputation as a leading voice in the fight against global warming.

Gore evokes the Iraq war, credit crunch, civil rights and emancipation to argue the US electoral system is broken and only a mass movement can deliver reason on global warming

Scientist Willie Smits believes that the Arenga sugar palm may be the key to protecting tropical forest in Indonesia while providing opportunity for villagers through a unique process of biofuel production.

Eight new locations announced by Chris Huhne are the first guide to the future of nuclear power in UK since Japan's Fukushima disaster

It produces less radioactive waste and more power but it remains unproven on a commercial scale

Population growth and water supply are on a collision course. Hunger is set to become the main issue

As the world's oceans warm, their massive stores of dissolved carbon dioxide may be quick to bubble back out into the atmosphere and amplify the greenhouse effect, according to a new study.

There were supposed to be 50 million climate refugees by the end of last year, so where are they? New Scientist investigates

A RACE is on to retrieve the first million-year-old sample from deep within Antarctica's ice. It's a prize that could help us understand what drives major changes in Earth's climate.

It's been a severe start to the spring season in the United States. Tornadoes have ravaged the southeastern US, flooding threatens much of the Midwest, and wildfires are scorching Texas. But according to researchers, a confluence of seasonal oscillations in weather patterns, rather than climate change, is to blame. And growing populations mean that grim casualty figures from such events may become the norm.

Shifts in the climate over the past three decades have been linked to a 5.5% decline in global wheat production, a study has suggested.

Around the world, people use quicklime to balance the pH of their fish tanks. Could governments do something similar to correct the pH of our acidifying oceans?

The scale of just how dry the start of 2011 has been is evident in some fascinating data from one of Europe's latest Earth observation satellites.

In Italy, Asia and New Zealand, long-range earthquake predictions from self-taught forecasters have recently had people on edge. But is it possible to pinpoint when a quake will strike?

Research says millions are displaced annually as a result of climate disasters. We must take the precautionary approach

Imagine if the world acted only when 100% scientific proof was in place. We would still be insulating buildings with cancer-causing asbestos and fuelling cars with lead additives, damaging babies' brains. The circulation in fridges would also be done by chemicals that, by thinning the Earth's protective ozone layer, would probably have led to a sharp increase in cases of skin cancer worldwide.

Sicily's Mount Etna spewed lava and sent clouds of ash into the air when it erupted in the early hours of Thursday.