More than one world leader says humanity's future, even survival, hangs in the balance when international officials meet in Scotland to try to accelerate efforts to curb climate change. Temperatures, tempers and hyperbole have all ratcheted up ahead of the United Nations summit.

And the risk of failure looms large for all participants at the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference, known as COP26.

The European Union's chief executive called Thursday for a show of climate leadership ahead of two major international meetings focused on curbing global warming, warning that world leaders face "a moment of truth."

"What we need is, first of all, leadership," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said before she heads to a weekend summit in Rome of the Group of 20 most developed nations. The 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, starts Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland.

Australia on Thursday ruled out promising to cut methane emissions by 30% by the end of the decade in a stance that will add to criticism that the country is a laggard in addressing climate change.

Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor announced his government's decision before he was to fly with Prime Minister Scott Morrison to a U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

A nor'easter that battered the Atlantic coast with hurricane-force wind gusts left more than a half-million homes and businesses without power in New England and forced the closure of bridges, ferries and schools in the region.

Utility workers labored to restore power as the storm's winds and rain, which were felt as far north as Nova Scotia, diminished throughout the day. Restoring power in the hardest-hit areas in southeastern Massachusetts will take days, the utility Eversource told the Cape Cod Times.

For centuries, Lake Tuz in central Turkey has hosted huge colonies of flamingos that migrate and breed there when the weather is warm, feeding on algae in the lake's shallow waters.

This summer, however, a heart-wrenching scene replaced the usual splendid sunset images of the birds captured by wildlife photographer Fahri Tunc. Carcasses of flamingo hatchlings and adults scattered across the cracked, dried-up lake bed.

Climate protesters sought to block two major roads into London on Wednesday, despite court injunctions banning them from disrupting traffic.

Activists from the group Insulate Britain, which wants the government to better insulate homes in the country to cut carbon emissions, targeted two busy roads leading into the capital during the morning rush hour.

A study commissioned by the environmental group Greenpeace shows that over one-third of the busiest short-haul flights in Europe have viable train alternatives which are far less polluting.

The group called on European governments Wednesday to boost train travel so fewer polluting planes are flying over the continent. The study by OBC Transeuropa showed that 34% of the 150 busiest short-haul flights have train trip alternatives of less than 6 hours.

The global energy transition is perhaps nowhere more perplexing than in the Arabian Peninsula, where Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies are caught between two daunting climate change scenarios that threaten their livelihoods.

In one, the world stops burning oil and gas to cut down on heat-trapping emissions, shaking the very foundation of their economies. In the other, global temperatures keep rising, at the risk of rendering unlivable much of the Gulf's already extremely hot terrain.

The leaders of Russia and China aren't coming. Turkey nearly set off a diplomatic incident on the eve of the meeting. And the United States, Australia and France will be at the same table for the first time since Washington pulled the rug out from under Paris' $66 billion submarine deal Down Under.

A Group of 20 summit scheduled for this weekend in Rome - the first in-person gathering of leaders of the world's biggest economies since the COVID-19 pandemic started - is not business as usual. That's especially true since as soon as the event ends, a bigger United Nations summit devoted to climate change begins in Glasgow, Scotland.

Climate activists in hard hats scaled a U.K. government building Tuesday, unfurling a banner demanding that countries attending the upcoming U.N. climate conference invest in plant-based alternatives to meat.

The activists campaigning for Animal Rebellion climbed between 10 meters and 20 meters (32 feet to 65 feet) up the latticework decoration of the building which houses the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. The activists are an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, which has blocked traffic, disrupted public transport and set up encampments to gain attention and press for stronger action against climate change.