Gulf of Mexico saltwater threatens rice, crawfish farmers. A rice and crawfish farming region on the low-lying southwest Louisiana coast has declared a state of emergency because a large freshwater basin that farmers rely on for irrigation is being spoiled by salt water from the Gulf of Mexico. Levees, oil drilling, hurricanes and sea level rise have contributed to the loss of the state's shoreline buffer. [News Source]

2011 one of hottest years on record. The world is getting hotter, with 2011 one of the warmest years on record, and humans are to blame, a report by the World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday. It warned increasing global average temperatures were expected to amplify floods, droughts and other extreme weather patterns. [News Source]

African leaders call emission cuts a ‘life or death’ issue. Developing countries set the highest bar possible yesterday for the U.N. climate change talks, demanding that wealthy countries ante up with new carbon emission targets yet warning them to expect no binding commitments from others in return. [News Source]

Forest-dependent communities lobby for end of UN’s REDD+ program. Organizations working with indigenous peoples living in forests say the United Nations program on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+) is just another way for big corporates to reap huge profits. [News Source]

Alaska community revives legal bid for global warming damages. A native American community in remote Alaska this week revived legal efforts to hold some of the world's largest energy companies accountable for allegedly destroying their village because of global warming. [News Source]

Scenarios provide a grim glimpse into Delaware’s coastal future. Sea level is rising in Delaware at a slow but steady pace. So far it has risen about 13 inches over the past 100 years. But that rate -- about 3.35 millimeters a year -- is nearly double the global average. [News Source]

Health imperilled by climate change: Report. Australians are being warned that their health is being put at risk by climate change. A Climate Commission report released Wednesday says climate change related injury, disease and deaths will continue to grow in decades to come unless sustained action is taken. [News Source]

Archbishop Tutu challenges Canada to stop protecting big oil. Archbishop and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu is challenging the Canadian government's support for the oil and gas industry, while urging it to start leading the world in addressing climate change as it did in opposing the "whites-only" rule that plagued South Africa in the 1980s. [News Source]

Rapid solar growth leads to unpredictable costs in UK. Climate change minister Greg Barker has again warned it would be "catastrophic" to delay deep cuts to feed-in tariffs until April 2012, admitting his department massively underestimated the costs the scheme will add to energy bills. [News Source]

US and China strive for fruitful but competitive developments in clean technology. The close relationship between Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Wan Gang, China's minister of science and technology, has helped hold together a series of slow-moving US-China partnerships. In time, they are supposed to springboard the two countries toward affordable, advanced emissions-cutting technology. [News Source]

Top UN climate scientist lays out dangers of global warming, benefits of action. The U.N.’s top climate scientist cautioned climate negotiators Wednesday that global warming is leading to human dangers and soaring financial costs, but containing carbon emissions will have a host of benefits. [News Source]