Australia's hottest year of 2013 started with a heatwave that caused widespread bush fires.

Summer heatwaves and downpours have become more frequent in the northern hemisphere this century, apparently because extreme weather can get trapped for weeks in the same place in a warming world,

Global warming has been going on for so long that most people were not even born the last time the Earth was cooler than average in 1985 in a shift that is altering perceptions of a "normal" climat

Sweltering summer heat in Japan has left at least 15 people dead over the past week, while more than 8,000 others were rushed to hospital with heatstroke symptoms, official figures showed Tuesday.

Putting off expensive measures to curb climate change will only cost the United States more in the long run, the White House said on Tuesday in a report meant to bolster a series of actions Preside

Ten people died and around 1,400 people were taken by ambulance to hospitals nationwide due to heatstroke or heat exhaustion, a tally showed Saturday, as temperatures soared across much of Japan.

Weather- and climate-related disasters have caused $2.4 trillion in economic losses and nearly 2 million deaths globally since 1971 according to a new report.

Aid group Oxfam has called on other rich nations to follow the example of Germany, which has promised €750m ($1bn) for the UN's fledgling Green Climate Fund.