The world's oceans have suddenly spiked much hotter and well above record levels in the last few weeks, with scientists trying to figure out what it means and whether it forecasts a surge in atmospheric warming.

Some researchers think the jump in sea surface temperatures stems from a brewing and possibly strong natural El Nino warming weather condition plus a rebound from three years of a cooling La Nina, all on top of steady global warming that is heating deeper water below. If that's the case, they said, record-breaking ocean temperatures this month could be the first in many heat records to shatter.

In rural Arizona's La Paz County, on the state's rugged border with California, the decision by a Saudi-owned dairy company to grow alfalfa in the American Southwest for livestock in the Gulf kingdom first raised eyebrows nearly a decade ago. Now, worsening drought has focused new attention on the company and whether Arizona should be doing more to protect its groundwater resources.

Amid a broader investigation by the state attorney general, Arizona last week rescinded a pair of permits that would have allowed Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Almarai Co., to drill more than 1,000 feet (305 meters) into the water table to pump up to 3,000 gallons (11 kiloliters) of water per minute to irrigate its forage crops.

On a tiny sliver of land in southern India, the future of an ancient grain that helps combat climate change is in doubt.

An ongoing tussle in Chellanam village, a suburb of the bustling city of Kochi, which has the Arabian Sea on one side and estuaries on the other, could decide the fate of the cultivation of pokkali rice.

Asia must rapidly cut fossil fuel subsidies and plow more money into a clean energy transition to avoid catastrophic climate change that puts its own development at risk, according to a new report Thursday from the Asian Development Bank.

The region's economic development is being fueled in a carbon-intensive way that is well above the world average, said David Raitzer, an ADB economist and one of the authors of the report. He urged quick action on an energy transition for greater benefits and lower costs.

Ya Ya the giant panda landed Thursday afternoon in Shanghai after departing from the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee, where she spent the past 20 years on loan.

The popular panda's trip was closely followed online.

The ongoing drought in Eastern Africa has been made worse by human-induced climate change, which also made it much likelier to occur in the first place, an international team of climate scientists concluded.

The report Wednesday came from World Weather Attribution, a group that seeks to quickly determine whether certain extreme weather events were influenced by climate change. Nineteen scientists from seven nations assessed how climate change affected rainfall in the region.

Trees are long-term investments that often outlive the people who plant them. And with the world's climate changing fast, we now need to consider whether the trees we plant today will be able to withstand the changing conditions in our gardens over the next 30, 50 or even 100 years.

"Things are changing faster than the lifespan of trees," said Daniel Herms, an entomologist specializing in the resiliency of trees at the research branch of the Davey Tree Expert Co., a landscaping firm based in Kent, Ohio.

New rules requiring airlines to use more sustainable fuels across the European Union have been agreed by negotiators from member countries and the EU Parliament in a bid to help decarbonize the sector.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, said Wednesday that the deal reached by member states and the European Parliament demands that suppliers blend sustainable aviation fuels with kerosene in growing amounts from 2025.

Italy's largest river is already as low as it was last summer, with the winter snow fields that normally save it from drying up over the warmer months having receded by 75%, according to the Bolzano climate and environment agency.

It's already causing some reliant on the Po to course correct.

Charred, drained or swamped, built up, dug out or taken apart, blue or green or turned to dust: this is the Earth as seen from above.

As the world commemorated Earth Day on Saturday, the footprints of human activity are visible across the planet's surface. The relationship between people and the natural world will have consequences for years to come.