Climate change threatens historic monuments: Historic monuments across Europe including the Colosseum, the Eiffel Tower and the Parthenon that have survived wars are now under threat from climate change. An Italian study warns that heavier rainfall and changing humidity levels will take a heavy toll from cultural treasures, wiping away layers of stone. In southern and central Europe, higher temperatures could cause monuments to crack and fall apart. The Australian

Climate change sceptics criticise polar bear science: As the poster child for the climate change generation polar bears have come to symbolise the need to tackle climate change. But their popularity has attracted the attention of global warming sceptics funded by the oil industry, who have started to attack polar bear science. New Scientist

Liberal attacks PM on climate change: A Liberal Party member and former ministerial speechwriter issues a book today which depicts the Prime Minister with a stranglehold on environmental policy, deliberately surrounding himself with climate change sceptics. Bungendore-based author Guy Pearse wrote High and Dry after seven years of academic research at the Australian National University, and a career with a former senior government minister as well as lobbying. He has come to the conclusion that John Howard has a deliberately skewed vision of an Australian economy heavily dependent on mining and other high-pollutant industries. Canberra Times

China to ban ozone-depleting CFCs: China has moved to ban the production of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), according to a statement from the country’s environmental protection agency. The action is in accordance with the 1987 Montreal Protocol to phase out the use of ozone layer-depleting products . China, which signed the agreement in 1991, says it will end all CFC production by 2010. Monga Bay

Western consumption may cause famines: Food production in developing countries will halve in the next 20 years unless wealthy nations lower their rate of consumption, a research group has warned. The livelihoods of more than three billion people in the world are being undermined by the wealth of the privileged few, said the director of the Stockholm Environment Institute, Johan Rockstroem.  “The risk is that we might halve… food production in sub-Saharan Africa because of our lifestyles,” he said at an international conference on climate change and sustainable development, held in the Swedish town of Taellberg. Herald Sun