The European Commission is ready to support the car industry and help it achieve EU targets to curb CO2 emissions despite the economic crisis, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Wednesday.

The Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX) plans an Internet site to bring together parties wanting to trade carbon-neutral power that is generated from renewable sources or from fossil fuels offset by UN carbon credits.

An exchange official said on Tuesday that the aim was to start the site by mid-November, initially on a trial basis.

Rising carbon dioxide levels in the world's oceans due to climate change, combined with rising sea temperatures, could accelerate coral bleaching, destroying some reefs before 2050, says a new Australian study.

The study says earlier research may have significantly understated the likely damage to the world's reefs caused by man-made change to the Earth's atmosphere.

PARIS: Weakening growth, huge investment needs and a highly contentious policy framework are just a few of the reasons why European Union member states may not get close to their goals for reducing carbon emissions in the next decade or so.

European Union governments gave their formal approval on Friday to include aviation in the bloc's emissions trading scheme, they said in a statement.

As a result of the decision, the 27-nation bloc will include aviation from 2012 in the programme, a key tool in its plan to fight climate change.

Greenhouse gases naturally blanket the Earth and keep it about 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it would be without these gases in the atmosphere.

Drinking water in Bangladesh is often full of salt as rising sea levels force water further inland. Expensive technology offers solutions but who will foot the bill?

Momtaj Begum, holding her baby daughter, is among hundreds of women queuing for a pitcher of drinking water at a desalinisation plant in Tafalbaria, a remote village in the Bagerhat district in south-west Bangladesh.

Greenhouse gases naturally blanket the Earth and keep it about 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it would be without these gases in the atmosphere.