Climate change-related heat stress a harsh opponent as athletes collapse at US Open—extreme heat and humidity retires 10 players as warming leaves a mark on American sports

The Japanese Meteorological Agency has announced that this past July was the warmest on record, a finding reinforced by preliminary NASA data. This means July was likely the hottest of any month on record, and puts 2015 safely on track to beat 2014 as the hottest year on record.

One big question for negotiations at COP21 is whether to develop a long–term global goal for climate action, and if so, what that goal might look like. While all the long-term goals aim to avoid catastrophic climate change, each one proposes a different way to get there. Navigate the maze here.

North American and European bumblebee species face significant risks from climate change, according to research published in Science. Faced with rising temperatures, bumblebees have been unable to shift their range to higher latitudes.

On March 19, 2015, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) announced that the maximum extent of Arctic sea ice cover this winter was the lowest ever recorded: 5.61 million square miles (14.54 million square kilometers) on February 25.