Global warming creeping up on state’s crops. California's agricultural lands have largely escaped the effects of global warming, but the honeymoon may soon be over. [News Source]

It’s all about the ice. The fragile Arctic environment, from the simplest plants to predatory mammals, depends on ice for survival. Trouble is, the ice is disappearing — fast. [News Source]

Company’s bid to keep english lawns. Scientists warn that the quintessential English country garden could become a thing of the past in as little as a decade unless alternative plants are found which can better withstand arid summers. [News Source]

Counting carbs. Seth Zuckerman recently wanted to shed some pounds. But instead of trying to cut carbs, he cut his carbon dioxide output. [News Source]

Getting warmer? Don’t blame it on the sun, experts say. By evaluating patterns of solar activity during the past thousand years, a team of experts concluded that variations in the sun's energy output played little or no role in global warming. [News Source]

Glacier retreats from view. Portage Glacier, in Alaska, has retreated so far, it no longer can be seen from the multimillion-dollar visitors center built for it in 1986. [News Source]

Clean-air committee backs challenge to TXU coal plants. North Texas leaders voted Friday to support the efforts of a group led by Dallas Mayor Laura Miller that is challenging TXU Corp. to come up with cleaner alternatives to the 11 coal-fired power plants it wants to build in North and Central Texas. [News Source]

Mayors’ bid to curb emissions gains ally. A North Texas clean-air planning group voted Friday to join a coalition that plans to intervene in state permit hearings on proposed coal-burning power plants in Texas. [News Source]

Study acquits sun of climate change (CNN.com)

OSLO, Norway (Reuters) — The sun’s energy output has barely varied over the past 1,000 years, raising chances that global warming has human rather than celestial causes, a study showed on Wednesday.

In gamble, California tries to curb greenhouse gases. California has just delivered a new message to energy suppliers: If you cannot produce power with the lowest possible emissions of these greenhouse gases, we are not interested. [News Source]

Experts warming to climate tinkering. The idea of tinkering with Earth's climate - once the domain of wing nuts and science-fiction writers - is getting a serious look by researchers. [News Source]