US Energy Secretary Steven Chu is already admitting the Obama administration's climate change policies have been compromised, blaming political opposition for not being able to cut greenhouse emissions as much as they should be cut. Prof Chu said he feared a climatic "tipping point" was near, and urgent emissions cuts were needed.

Loss of habitat has already seen 85 percent of the world's oyster beds disappear, with poor fishing practices and coastal developments rather than climate change to blame. Shellfish stocks generally are declining, but oyster beds appear hardest hit - which has a flow-on effect for other life, for oysters provide a number of key services within their ecosystems.

Artificial sweeteners are ending up in groundwater virtually unchanged, despite passing through the human body first. Some sweeteners are particularly widespread in the environment, and are contaminating water sources. But it also makes them ideal "markers" for following pollution.   

China, the world's biggest atmospheric polluter, has called on rich countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2020 and help pay for reduction in poorer nations, while developing countries - like themselves (sic) - should only have to cut emissions on a voluntary basis. Still, they'd like between half and one percent of others' GDP to help them out. While widely regarded as posturing ahead of Copenhagen, the strident nature of the demands may encourage other nations to take tougher positions.

Since the 1930's, seismologists have filtered out the sound of waves crashing on shore because it gets in the way of earthquake detection. Now, by reversing the data, a new study suggests severe storm events have been increasing in frequency and ferocity over that period.

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