Every week, Kate Lanier assembles the most important global energy and climate news. This week includes:

Worldwide: They’ve got things so bollixed up that, even though it appears global warming has slowed a bit, that’s on Earth’s surface. Deep down in the oceans, the warming trend continues, most markedly in the southern Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Gulf of Mexico: Plans afoot “to enlarge the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary from 56 square miles to 280. Yes!

Israel: Illegal sand mining is “a major source of income for organized crime figures, especially … in Israel’s south.” It also erodes coastal areas, thus threatening local wildlife. Five arrests so far this year; 20 last year.