AUSTIN — Global climate change poses a significant threat to migratory bird populations, which are already stressed by the loss of habitat and environmental pollution, according to a report released Thursday. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar joined scientists and conservation organizers at an...

SEATTLE  — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it will consider ways the states can address rising acidity levels in oceans, which pose a serious threat to shellfish and other marine life. The federal agency's decision was announced in a legal settlement with the Center for...

BEIJING  — Eleven rare Siberian tigers kept in small cages and fed only chicken bones have died of malnutrition at a cash-strapped zoo in China's frigid northeast, state media said Friday. A manager at the Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo in Liaoning province, however, said the animals had...

PARIS  — Rich nations must contribute more to a climate change fund and help fight deforestation, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at a conference Thursday on saving the world's forests — a key defense against global warming. Ministers from some 64 nations attended the one-day Paris...

DOHA — A U.N. body best known for protecting tigers and elephants will focus on the world's overfished oceans beginning this week with proposals to regulate the shark trade and ban the export of a tuna species prized by sushi lovers. The increased attention on the Atlantic bluefin tuna and other...

BRUSSELS — The European Union's executive says the region will achieve its target to generate 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources, such as wind power, by 2020. A European Commission report published Thursday says Europe's use of green energy will grow from 9 percent in 2007 to 20.3...

SYDNEY  — An elephant calf that was believed to have died during a nine-day labor is feeding itself and has earned the nickname "Mr. Shuffles" since learning to stand, Taronga Zoo officials said Thursday. Keepers said Tuesday that the calf had died during the difficult labor, which started...

HONOLULU — Honeycreeper birds, a fly and several ferns, trees and shrubs found only on a Hawaiian island were among 48 species added Wednesday to the endangered species list, boosting the number of such classifications by the Obama administration from two to 50. In the decision, Interior Secretary...

PARIS — French President Nicolas Sarkozy will open a daylong conference Thursday of some 40 nations to start turning plans into action to save the world's forests and help rein in the noxious gases blamed for climate change. Ministers from countries of the Amazon and Congo river basins and...

OSLO  — Two years after receiving its first deposits, a "doomsday" seed vault on an Arctic island has amassed half a million seed samples, making it the world's most diverse repository of crop seeds, the vault's operators announced Thursday. Cary Fowler — who heads the trust that oversees the...