Methane, a potent global warming gas, is bubbling out of the frozen Arctic faster than had been expected.

World weather agencies have agreed to collect more precise temperature data to improve climate change science, officials said on Wednesday, as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged environment ministers to reject efforts by skeptics to derail a global climate deal.

Top researchers now agree that the world is likely to get stronger but fewer hurricanes in the future because of global warming, seeming to settle a scientific debate on the subject. But they say there's not enough evidence yet to tell whether that effect has already begun.

Backing R K Pachauri, who has come under flak for IPCC's goof up on melting of Himalayan glaciers, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday that he has earned well deserved respect and international acclaim for his contribution in meeting challenges of climate change.

India will have its own body to assess the impact of climate change on Himalayan glaciers, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh announced today, adding its research would be more "robust and solid" than that of the IPCC which is under attack.

India submitted its proposed emission intensity cut targets by 20-25 per cent by 2020 to the UN, a day before the world body's January 31 deadline for submitting the climate change mitigation steps under the Copenhagen Accord.

Fighting global warming and protecting the environment dominated the discussions Friday at the World Economic Forum, a month after UN climate change talks ended without a binding deal on curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

As the controversy over retreating Himalayan glaciers took a new turn, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday said India stood vindicated with a UN body moving to retract its own "alarmist" warning that the glaciers would melt by 2035 due to climate change.

Beijing had its coldest morning in almost 40 years and its biggest snowfall since 1951. Britain is suffering through its longest cold snap since 1981. And freezing weather is gripping the Deep South, including Florida's orange groves and beaches.

An optimal solution to the climate change challenge is only possible if the world can find ways to reach a mutually satisfactory collective solution, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday.

It's a climate deal that has Europe feeling left out in the cold. The continent that used to take the lead in advocating climate action is now taking the lead in climate complaining. And it's not just upset with the results, but the process itself.

An unlikely source of energy has emerged to meet international demands that the United States do more to fight global warming: It's cleaner than coal, cheaper than oil and a 90-year supply is under our feet.

Around the world, countries and capitalism are already working to curb global warming on their own, with or without a global treaty.

Developing countries, led by India and China, on Friday closed ranks to oppose rich nations' attempts to wriggle out of their commitments on emission cuts amid a desperate bid to fork out a face-saving political document.

President Barack Obama and other world leaders took stalled climate talks into their own hands on Friday, holding an emergency meeting to come up with a political agreement to salvage a conference marked by deep divisions between rich and poor countries.

As world leaders raced against time to hammer out a deal to combat global warming, India said on Friday that it was working with the US and other key negotiators to try to work out a "coordinated" position at the climate change meet in Copenhagen.

A glimmer of hope on a political statement at the climate talks here emerged on Thursday with the resumption of "two-track" negotiations here after India and other emerging economies attacked a group of developed nations for working on a "secret document".

"Climate change cannot be addressed by perpetuating the poverty of the developing countries," the Indian PM said in a statement before his departure for climate change summit in Copenhagen.

Police fired pepper spray and beat protesters with batons outside the UN climate conference on Wednesday, as disputes inside left major issues unresolved just two days before world leaders hope to sign a historic agreement to fight global warming.

The success of the UN climate conference hung in the balance on Tuesday, as China and the US deadlocked over whether Beijing will allow the world to check its books and verify promised cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

With no signs of breakthrough in the tough negotiations in climate change conference in Copenhagen, India fears that the talks could collapse, but for a miracle.

New computer modeling suggests the Arctic Ocean may be nearly ice-free in the summertime as early as 2014, Al Gore said Monday at the UN climate conference.

China, India and other developing nations boycotted UN climate talks on Monday, bringing negotiations to a halt with their demand that rich countries discuss much deeper cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions.

Admitting that India and other emerging economies' stand was considerably different from the 43 countries in the AOSIS, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said that India had no major differences with the United States.

Danish police detained more than 200 activists Sunday on a second day of street protests over climate change, as environment ministers met for informal talks to advance negotiations on a new pact.