Over the past five years I have become increasingly concerned at the scaremongering of the climate alarmists, which has led the governments of Europe to commit themselves to a drastic reduction in carbon emissions, regardless of the economic cost of doing so. The subject is such a complex one, involving science, economics and politics in almost equal measure, that to do it justice I have written a book, albeit a short one, thoroughly referenced and sourced. But the bare bones are clear.

Scientists at two UK universities have produced evidence to debunk a popular alternative theory to explain climate change. The scientists were unable to find a link between cosmic rays and cloud cover Following a year long study, emeritus professors Terry Sloan, of Lancaster University, and Arnold Wolfendale, of Durham University, said they could find no link between cosmic rays and global warming.

The charged and complex debate over how to slow down global warming has become a lot more complicated. Most of the focus in the past few years has centered on imposing caps on greenhouse gas emissions to prod energy users to conserve or switch to nonpolluting technologies.

Italy will achieve its greenhouse gas-cutting targets under the Kyoto protocol by buying carbon credits from Russia, under a deal announced yesterday that could cost the government billions of euros. Italy is expected to miss its Kyoto targets by a total of about 400m to 500m tonnes of carbon dioxide, and will therefore have to make up the shortfall with carbon credits issued by the United Nations. But the government did not say how many credits it would buy under a deal with Carbon Trade and Finance, a joint venture between Russia's Gazprombank and Dresdner Bank.

RHETORIC is a sad fact of political life, and most voters are smart enough to know that grand promises made in the heat of a parliamentary debate or an election battle should be taken with a pinch of salt. But on energy policy the gap between claim and reality is now wide enough to be embarrassing.

Deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said the national action plan on climate change would focus more on adaptation to climate change than on mitigation. Speaking at the release of

People are not good at making immediate sacrifices for an abstract benefit in the future, especially when they have a hard time understanding the problem John Tierney Everyone talks about the future weather, but so far nobody has done much about it, not even the many people and politicians convinced that climate change will be a serious problem. This situation comes as no surprise to the behavioural researchers who have been studying the human brain's penchant for making dumb choices.

Any New Global Warming Pact Should Include Aviation To Curb Emissions, Say Green Groups Bangkok: Air travel is booming as the world's population grows and fares fall, but its impact on Earth's sensitive climate must be taken into account in any new global warming pact, green groups say. More than 900 delegates flew into Bangkok this week for a UN-led meeting on global warming, spewing about 4,181 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, an official from the United Nations climate body estimated.

18 US States Sue EPA Over Greenhouse Gas Pollution US: April 4, 2008 WASHINGTON - Eighteen states sued the US Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday for failing to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and trucks, one year after the Supreme Court ruled that the agency had the power to do so. The suit seeks EPA's response to the high court's April 2, 2007, ruling, a landmark decision seen as a sharp defeat for the Bush administration's policy on climate change.

Contrary to a favoured theory of climate sceptics, scientists claim to have found evidence that solar activity is not linked to global warming. In their study, the researchers from the Lancaster University in Britain used three different methods and found that changes in the Sun's intensity are in no way behind modern climate change.