"Ben Carter heard the story of the fearsome black rhinoceros during a trip to Namibia more than a year ago, and it’s still fresh in his mind."

"Japanese whalers will set out for the Antarctic this week, but will leave their harpoons at home after the United Nations’ (UN) top court ruled last year their annual hunt was illegal, the government said Tuesday."

"A handful of ecologists knew for years that West Africa was at risk for an Ebola outbreak. Now they're figuring out where else in the world the virus could be hiding. Many signs point to Asia."

"PARIS – Agreements on climate change — to paraphrase what the 19th century German statesman Otto von Bismarck said about lawmaking — are like sausages."

The expensive and disastrous failure of Shell's effort to begin offshore drilling in Arctic offshore waters of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas offers a tale of what can go wrong in such Arctic drilling.

"For scientist Tierra Curry, the monarch butterfly is part of the American experience."

"Hottest year on record provided setting for conclusive scientific findings as mushrooming climate movement pressed world leaders to act."

"Pope Francis next year will issue an edict urging the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics to take action to fight climate change."

Some 1300 species of mistletoe -- a plant long used to mark the solstice holiday -- defy many of the conventional ideas surrounding them.

"NASA scientists say that, during the summer, Arctic is absorbing 5 percent more of the sun’s incoming energy than just 15 years ago. The trend coincides with the steady decrease in Arctic sea ice during the same period."