Times Online

The Gaia thinker's latest book warns that climate disaster is imminent

Almost all of the time, the Wa

Al Gore's award-winning climate change documentary was littered with nine inconvenient untruths, a judge ruled yesterday. By Lewis Smith

Israeli commandos seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during a daring raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israel bombed it this month, according to informed sources in Washington and Jerusalem. By Uzi Mahnaimi and Sarah Baxter

Israeli commandos from the elite Sayeret Matkal unit – almost certainly dressed in Syrian uniforms – made their way stealthily towards a secret military compound near Dayr az-Zawr in northern Syria. They were looking for proof that Syria and North Korea were collaborating on a nuclear programme.

Climate change is so far advanced that serious damage to the environment is inevitable, scientists told a conference yesterday. By Lewis Smith

In the valley around the south Indian village of Gudihalli, farmers have cultivated sunflowers, coconut trees and the medicinal plant salpani for generations. By Ashling O'Connor

Here are the hard facts about global warming that everyone should know, compiled for Times Online by internationally acclaimed writer, scientist and explorer Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers: Our changing climate and what it means for life on earth. By Tim Flannery

Climate change – with its associated failure of rains and expansion of deserts – lies at the heart of the bloody conflict in Darfur, a panel of United Nations scientists said yesterday. By Rob Crilly

ISRAEL's new defence minister Ehud Barak is planning an attack on Gaza within weeks to crush the Hamas militants who have seized power there. By Uzi Mahnaimi

China's communist rulers announced a moratorium on the production of ethanol from corn and other food crops yesterday at the very time that Western leaders are rushing to embrace alternative food-based fuel technology. By Jane Macartney and Tim Reid

It took Bob Geldof's persuasive powers to rally support in aid of Africa. Now Al Gore is hoping to help to save the planet with a day of global concerts designed to raise awareness of climate change. By Adam Sherwin

Roastingly hot summers, monsoon-style winter rains and flooding, plus the destruction of much of the nation's ecosystems and wildlife will make "our green and pleasant land" almost unrecognisable by 2100, Britain's biggest weather prediction experiment suggests. By Jonathan Leake

Weather patterns that left Britain gasping for water during repeated bouts of prolonged drought at the start of the 20th century could be back in action, researchers fear. By Lewis Smith

Blame it on global warming or a submerged volcano. Either way, the low-lying atoll seems doomed - and it is not the only one. By Richard Lloyd Parry

Britain's coasts and oceans are being changed for ever by rising sea levels, bigger waves and stronger storms, a government report will warn this week. By Jonathan Leake

Fast-track planning for new generation of power stations. By Philip Webster

Japanese scientists displayed yesterday the oldest samples of ice yet retrieved, which promise to reveal invaluable data about the Earth's climate a million years ago. By Richard Lloyd Parry

Climate change sceptics want more evidence. But this is a completely irrational view. By Camilla Cavendish

The world's coral reefs could disappear within a few decades along with hundreds of species of plankton and shellfish, according to new studies into man's impact on the oceans. By Jonathan Leake

Alternative energy companies may finally be entering the mainstream for investors, writes Jessica Brown

After Hurricane Katrina, a black Gaian joke went the rounds, couched in White House newspeak: "Successful mission against the Gulf of Mexico oilfields. Some collateral damage in New Orleans."

Despite force feeding by the American military, several hunger strikers at Guantanamo Bay may be close to death, according to lawyers acting for the detainees. By Sarah Baxter

Two senior government figures have called for the introduction of a green tax system to force individuals and firms to cut energy consumption.

Julian Heming of the Met Office in Exeter explains how Hurricane Rita has grown so big and whether these storms are getting more frequent.

A White House aide who softened scientific warnings about global warming in government documents has been hired by Exxon Mobil, the oil company. By Roland Watson

Ministers were warned in July 2002 that Britain was committed to taking part in an American-led invasion of Iraq and they had no choice but to find a way of making it legal. By Michael Smith

The American defence secretary of the Vietnam War era denounced nuclear weapons yesterday and urged the British Government not to develop a new system after the present Trident submarines are taken out of service. By Michael Evans

Switzerland is trying to save its melting ski slopes by wrapping Alpine glaciers in plastic foil more commonly used to keep vegetables fresh and wine cool. By Roger Boyes

Powerful evidence for global warming has been discovered by scientists funded by the US Government, demolishing the chief argument of sceptics who deny that the phenomenon is real.