Subhash Chandra N S, Bangalore, Oct 12, DHNS:

Things are hotting up in the City. Several parts of Bangalore are witnessing an increase in the land surface temperature (LST) by as much as two degrees Celcius over the past few years, a study by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has claimed.

A dust storm swept across eastern Australia and blanketed Sydney on Wednesday, disrupting transport, placing health authorities on alert for widespread respiratory illness and stripping thousands of tonnes of topsoil off Australia's main farmlands.

Following are answers to questions about the storm.

WHAT CAUSED THE DUST STORM?

South Korea plans this year to unveil targeted cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, Lee also said his country intends to invest about two percent of its GDP in "green growth" during the next five years.

The world leaders who met at the United Nations to discuss climate change on Tuesday are faced with an intricate challenge: building momentum for an international climate treaty at a time when global temperatures have been relatively stable for a decade and may even drop in the next few years.