More than half of the US population lives amid potentially dangerous air pollution, with national efforts to improve air quality at risk of being reversed, a new report has warned.

During the 872-day German siege of Leningrad in World War II, in which an estimated 1.1 million civilians died, a small band of workers devoted themselves to safeguarding a priceless trove of 200,000 seeds at the Institute of Plant Industry. Then the world’s largest seed bank, the collection had been amassed, in large part, by famed Soviet botanist Nikolai Vavilov during expeditions to 64 countries. 

As the siege wore on and starvation became epidemic, workers at the institute refused to eat the seeds and protected them from hungry citizens.

Surfing is synonymous with riding waves all day, jamming to Jack Johnson, chilling around a beach bonfire by night and sleeping in a VW van before doing it all over again.

But there’s another idea that should also come to mind when imagining the idealized life of a surfer dude or dudette: science.

SunEdison Inc SUNE.N, once the fastest-growing U.S. renewable energy company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday after a short-lived but aggressive binge of debt-fueled acquisitions proved unsustainable.

In its bankruptcy filing, the company said it had assets of $20.7 billion and liabilities of $16.1 billion as of Sept. 30.

More than 170 governments declared an end to the fossil fuel era on Friday, using the signing ceremony for the landmark Paris agreement as an occasion to renew their vows to fight climate change.

The outpouring of support – the largest ever single-day turn-out for a signing ceremony – underscored strong international commitment to deliver on the promises made in Paris last December to avoid a climate catastrophe, the leaders said.

The EU hit out Monday at "misconceptions" over leaked documents about a planned free trade deal with the United States that are said to show it poses risks to the climate, environment and consumers.

Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem insisted that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) said the papers released by Greenpeace merely reflected negotiating positions by Washington and Brussels.

A wind of change is blowing on Spain's renewables: companies and investment funds have been on a buying spree, taking advantage of the know-how and growth prospects of a sector still limping out of a crisis.

In 2015 "total transactions reached 5 billion euros ($5.7 billion)", says Joao Saint-Aubyn, a Madrid-based energy expert at global consultancy Roland Berger.

As young boys plunge into a murky dam to escape the blistering afternoon sun, guards armed with guns stand vigil at one of the few remaining water bodies in a state hit hard by India's crippling drought.

Desperate farmers from a neighboring state regularly attempt to steal water from the Barighat dam, forcing authorities in central Madhya Pradesh to protect it with armed guards to ensure supplies.

Indonesia is pushing to ban new palm oil operations after last year's haze-belching forest fires were partly blamed on the industry's expansion, but producers are warning the move could hit the economy and green groups are skeptical.

President Joko Widodo in April proposed a halt on granting new land for palm oil plantations in the world's top producer of the edible vegetable oil, a key ingredient in many everyday goods, from biscuits to shampoo and make-up.

Cambodia's prime minister has ordered a million hectares of forest be included in protected zones as the country faces one of the world's fastest deforestation rates.

The move, which covers five new areas of forest, will bump Cambodia's conservation zones up by a fifth, bringing more than a quarter of the country's land under protection.