Climate change: ‘Berkeley has a special obligation,’ conference speakers say (UC Berkeley NewsCenter) About 100 climate-change experts gathered at Berkeley Thursday for "Beyond Copenhagen: Forging a Global Response to Climate Change." The conference focused on what happened (and didn't happen) at the global climate talks in Copenhagen, and on the future of negotiations over global warming. [News Source]

UN says nations’ greenhouse gas pledges too little Goals on reducing greenhouse gases announced by major industrialized nations are a step forward but not enough to forestall the disastrous effects of climate change by midcentury, U.N. officials said Monday. [News Source]

Climate change deal unlikely (Hindustan Times) A global deal to tackle climate change is all but impossible in 2010, leaving the scale and pace of action to slow global warming in coming decades uncertain, according to senior figures across the world involved in the negotiations. [News Source]

Big nations set out emission cuts targets. Most of the world’s big economies on Sunday filed their targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions with the UN, meeting the deadline set in Copenhagen. [News Source]

Global deal on climate change in 2010 ‘all but impossible.’ A global deal to tackle climate change is all but impossible in 2010, leaving the scale and pace of action to slow global warming in coming decades uncertain, according to senior figures across the world involved in the negotiations. [News Source]

Pentagon to rank global warming as destabilising force. The Pentagon will for the first time rank global warming as a destabilising force, adding fuel to conflict and putting US troops at risk around the world, in a major strategy review to be presented to Congress tomorrow. [News Source]

Silicon Valley makes big push into solar and smart-grid technologies. As Silicon Valley reinvents itself as a global center of clean technology, two sectors — solar power and "smart" upgrades to the electric grid — already are reshaping the valley and changing the way energy is produced and used. [News Source]

Egypt’s fertile Nile Delta falls prey to climate change. The Nile Delta, Egypt's bread basket since antiquity, is being turned into a salty wasteland by rising seawaters, forcing some farmers off their lands and others to import sand in a desperate bid to turn back the tide. [News Source]

An electric boost for bicyclists. Low emission electric bikes are becoming increasingly popular in the West. But they come with their own set of issues. A typical Chinese model uses five lead batteries in its lifetime, each containing 20 to 30 pounds of lead. [News Source]

Impact of ETS on food costs ‘minimal.’ A new report has found failing to tackle climate change will have a greater impact on supermarket prices than an emissions trading scheme. [News Source]

Is global warming to thank for the rise of wines from England, Belgium and Sweden? The extent to which global warming has encouraged the expansion of winemaking in northern lands better known for their beer is up for debate. [News Source]