Roadmap for climate change: Despite a recent plunge into the deep freeze, much of the U.S. East Coast and Midwest have been going through an extraordinarily warm winter with temperatures running 10 to 20 degrees higher than normal in many places. This unusually warm weather, coupled with severe droughts and downpours worldwide, demonstrate how climate change may be one of the greatest environmental threats for humanity. United Press International

Longest underground river found near Mexican coast: Cave divers in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula have discovered what may be the world’s longest underground river, connecting two cave systems with a waterway at least 95 miles (154 km) long. A group of foreign divers exploring the area near the Caribbean beach resort of Playa del Carmen have yet to name the stretch, but believe it could be connected to two other major systems, adding more than 125 miles (200 km) to its length. Reuters

War on warming begins at (Al Gore’s) home: Fresh off his victory lap at the Academy Awards, former vice president Al Gore — who has not closed the door on a 2008 bid — found himself in a more familiar position: on the receiving end of a political attack. The barb came via the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, a Nashville-based think tank that advocates “limited government through policy solutions,” according to its Web site. The Washington Post

The big question: what is La Nina, and will it cause serious climate disruption?: American scientists have warned that a weather phenomenon in the South Pacific known as “El Niño”, which results in warm Pacific Ocean currents, is dying out and will be replaced by its opposite number, “La Niña”. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said that cooler-than-normal water temperatures have developed at the surface in the east-central equatorial Pacific. Independent

My ‘vapour trail’ put spotlight on dangers facing environment: Sir David Attenborough yesterday hit back at Jeremy Paxman’s criticism of his programme Planet Earth, branding the Newsnight host’s comments about the effect the show’s production had on the environment as predictable and unfair. Paxman recently said it was “bizarre” that BBC nature programmes such as Planet Earth flew crews round the globe leaving a “vapour trail”, even as they warned of the perils of climate change. Scotsman

Inuits blame US for climate change: As the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States has come under heavy criticism, including from people who live almost on top of the world. The Inuits of Northern Canada and beyond are taking their case against the United States on Thursday to an international human rights commission. They have scant chance of a breakthrough but still hope to score moral and political points against the U.S. and its carbon spewers. Time