Latest green news
Global warming 'hiatus' seen as temporary, leaked IPCC report argues
7:37am A "hiatus" in global warming so far this century is partly caused by natural variations in a chaotic climate and is unlikely to last, a draft United Nations report by leading climate scientists says.
Obama's EPA opens up battleground against coal
7:23am The US Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed limits on power-plant emissions blamed for climate change represents a new battleground for an agency that has for decades focused on the local impact of pollutants such as lead, mercury and ozone.
Norway scraps 'Moon landing' carbon capture project
7:12am Norway drops plans for a full-scale carbon capture plant at its Mongstad refinery after cost overruns and delays, ending a project that was dubbed as the country’s “moon landing” by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.
Climate change's nasty numbers: why the transition from carbon won't be easy
Robert Bryce 7:00am As the IPCC discussion unfolds, everyone should keep four numbers in mind: 32, 1, 30 and 1/2. These are the numbers that explain why any transition away from our existing energy systems will be protracted and costly.
Arctic ice rebound not seen bucking long-term melting trend
6:24am Arctic sea ice rebounded in 2013 from last year’s record melting season, though scientists warned that the long-term trend is for the ocean to become increasingly ice-free in the summer.
'Super Typhoon' Usagi heads for Hong Kong
4:41am The most powerful typhoon of the year approached the northern Philippines and southern Taiwan on Friday with ferocious gusts of up to 296 kilometres per hour. It was expected to skirt both regions, but authorities warned of torrential rains and destructive winds.
Race against time to save magical island refuge
Angelo Risso Situated between Kendrick Park and Tempe House on the Cooks River at Tempe is a small landmass named Fatima Island.
Halfway point already reached before emissions danger zone
TOM ARUP Humans have already released half the total carbon dioxide emissions they can to ensure the planet has a good chance of not warming to dangerous levels, a draft United Nations scientific assessment says.
Green anger at go-ahead for state forest logging
TOM ARUP Napthine government to reopen commercial logging in the Mount Cole state forest.
Warming in danger zone
Tom Arup Deep global emissions cuts needed in coming decades, according to UN.
Beached humpback whale pushed back out to sea in Newcastle
A beached baby humpback whale has been pushed out to sea by beachgoers in Newcastle.
Obama to unveil emission curbs on new coal-fired power plants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to unveil Friday its first limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from new power plants, a signature element of President Barack Obama's plan to curb climate change.
Russians detain Australian Greenpeace activist
An Australian activist has been detained by armed Russian authorities after they stormed a Greenpeace vessel operating in the Arctic, the environmental group says.
Warm spring to stoke early-season fire risks
PETER HANNAM The exceptionally warm start to spring for south-eastern Australia is likely to extend well into October, breaking more records and exacerbating early-season fire risks, according to Weatherzone.
Green Climate Fund prepares first of $US100b capital raising
The new head of the Green Climate Fund, charged with disbursing some of $US100 billion a year pledged to poor countries affected by climate change, is readying an initial capital raising to conclude as soon as 2014.
5.3-magnitude earthquake hits Japan's Fukushima
A 5.3-magnitude earthquake has hit the Japanese prefecture that is home to the nuclear power plant crippled in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Climate warrior an early victim of new government's axe
Tom Arup, Peter Hannam In its first full day in office, the Abbott government moved swiftly to abolish Labor-era climate change institutions, shutting the Climate Commission, and starting the process of axing other bodies.
How far will the climate purge go?
TOM ARUP The axing of the Climate Commission should be no surprise. Environment Minister Greg Hunt has long flagged that it would go if the Coalition was elected.
Abbott's win seen stoking anti-carbon price sentiment elsewhere
Australia is at risk of breaching a global agreement to cut greenhouse gases as power markets signal Prime Minister Tony Abbott will exploit the widest election victory in nine years to repeal the nation’s carbon system.
Tony Abbott can't stop green loans, top lawyer says
PETER HANNAM The Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the $10b bank dubbed a 'giant green hedge fund' by the incoming Abbott government, is obligated by law to ignore Coalition demands that it cease making loans, according to legal advice obtained by conservation groups.
Abbott shuts down Climate Commission
TOM ARUP The Abbott government has abolished the Climate Commission, which had been established to provide public information on the impacts and potential solutions to global warming.
Climate scientists' challenge: Showing how 'uncertainty' is not 'ignorance'
Top climate scientists will blame mankind more clearly than ever for global warming next week but may struggle to drive home the message in a report that uses the term "uncertainty" 42 times.
Direct Action keeps state policymakers guessing
PETER HANNAM Remember how the arrival of the carbon price was supposed to drive Australia to a lower carbon future?
Battle lines forming in climate wars
PETER HANNAM Plan to scrap Climate Commission and Climate Change Authority a big mistake, scientists say.
Solving the sea ice riddle
ANDREW DARBY As the area of Antarctic sea ice grows to a record extent, blast freezer winds are emerging as a key to the riddle of how, in a warming world, this ice is expanding.
Carbon emissions from biggest companies undermine global curbs, survey finds
Growing pollution at 50 of the world's biggest-emitting companies threatens to undermine global efforts to contain rising temperatures, according to a report by CDP, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project.
Roads closed as rain causes problems
STEPHANIE ANDERSON Blue skies returned only briefly to Canberra on Wednesday before heavy rain hit the city after dark.
Web
Grumpy Cat lands endorsement deal
It probably won't affect her famous mood, but Grumpy Cat now has an endorsement deal.
Comment
Tony Abbott will doom future generations if he ditches carbon tax
David Suzuki Politicians around the world continue to retreat from the battle to protect the environment.
Science
Frozen zoo vital for species' future
BRIDIE SMITH Australia is ill-equipped to preserve and protect its threatened native wildlife and a national gene bank should be established urgently, conservation scientists say.
Exploration
Santos green light to drill in forests
PETER HANNAM The NSW government said it had approved the drilling by Santos of eight exploration coal seam gas wells, provided 'strict' environmental conditions are met.
Tony Abbott will doom future generations if he ditches carbon tax
David Suzuki Politicians around the world continue to retreat from the battle to protect the environment.
Fracking gas leaks less than previous estimates, US study finds
Natural gas leaks from production wells in the US are lower than previous estimates and below the level that would erase the fuel’s climate benefit over coal, according to a University of Texas study.
Record breaking rain to continue
STEPHANIE ANDERSON Canberra has received record breaking rain overnight, forcing the closure of roads and crossings throughout the capital.
Scientists slam claims of cooler climate
Nick Perry Australian scientists have dismissed suggestions a major report on the state of climate change will show the world has warmed slower than expected.
Japan tells 300,000 households to evacuate
Typhoon Man-yi has battered central Japan, forcing the evacuation of almost 300,000 households amid fears the storm could go on to hit the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Umbrellas out, Canberra!
STEPHANIE ANDERSON Canberra is expected to receive its monthly mean rainfall in a single day as forecasters predict up to 50mm of rain on Monday.
Super wave found, but you can't surf it
ANDREW DARBY An ultimate wave has been found in the Pacific but it will never be ridden by a surfer. It breaks at a height of about 240 metres - and it is at the bottom of the ocean.
Climate getting hotter, less predictable, survey of Asians finds
Three out of four Asians say the weather has become hotter and less predictable in the past decade as a result of climate change, prompting job changes, migration and lifestyle adaptation, a study shows.
Colorado rescuers warn flood victims to leave now
By air and by land, the rescue of hundreds of people stranded by epic US mountain flooding has accelerated as debris-filled rivers became muddy seas that extended into towns and farms miles from the Rockies.
'Pool of hot air' fans the flames
PETER HANNAM Weather patterns creating a ''pool of hot air'' over central Australia continue to set new temperature records for the country and foster unseasonably warm conditions over many regions of the nation's south-east, meteorologists say.
No snow, but huskies can go
CHRISTINE SAMS It is not a scene you would normally expect in the Aussie bush. In fact, Peter Rose says that when a group of mountain bikers spotted him and his team of racing Siberian huskies, ''two of them fell off their bikes''.
Coal killing Hunter, residents say
Natalie O'Brien It is one of the most beautiful and productive regions in the country, dotted with award-winning wineries, famous horse studs, olive groves and beef and dairy farms.
No more shark fin soup for us, vow Hong Kong authorities
David Jolly Hong Kong has bowed to years of pressure from environmental groups, saying it will no longer allow shark fin to be served at official functions.
Scientist strives to save honey bees
SCOTT HANNAFORD The Australian scientist who helped discover what was killing the world's honey bees believes he may be on the cusp of working out how to stop it - if he can just convince anyone to listen.
UN climate report turns to purple to highlight risks
Some parts of nature and human society are more vulnerable than expected to climate change, according to a draft of a U.N. report that adds a new purple colour to a key diagram to show worsening risks beyond the red used so far.
Clear and present danger
PETER HANNAM With the hazard reduction season shrinking and higher temperatures already upon us, Peter Hannam looks to this summer's fire dangers around Sydney.
Science
Gears discovered in nature to give insects a jump on predators
Meeri Kim A jumping insect has gears, scientists have discovered, a rare instance in which man and nature independently converged on the same idea.
Jump start: tiny planthoppers' gears make it first off at the lights
Meeri Kim Philadelphia: A jumping insect has gears, scientists have discovered, a rare instance in which man and nature independently converged on the same idea.
Green light for Roe Hwy angers conservation groups
NARELLE TOWIE WA’s environmental gatekeepers have given the green light to the contentious Roe Highway extension through parks and wetlands in Perth’s southern suburbs.
Perth 'addict dolphin' feared dead
NARELLE TOWIE One of Perth's best known dolphins is believed to have died after becoming entangled in fishing line, ending a sad life of addiction, dependency and isolation.
Science
Dung beetles find their way - in the stars
BRIDIE SMITH Researchers given dubious honour for insights into insect navigation.
Ski season ends early with slush and patches
HAMISH BOLAND-RUDDER Successive cold fronts over the end of this week and through mid-next week are unlikely to save the end of the ski season, which has already started winding up three weeks out from the official close.
US coal industry arcs up over Obama clampdown
Representatives of coal-intensive utilities and coal-producing regions said President Obama would effectively outlaw construction of new power plants using the fuel with pending environmental rules.
US solar surge in switches to utilities
Developers installed 832 megawatts of solar power capacity in the US in the second quarter, led by large projects that sell electricity to utilities, a trade group said.
China sets high bar to curb coal, pollution
China unveiled comprehensive new measures to tackle air pollution, with plans to slash coal consumption and close polluting mills, factories and smelters, but experts said implementing the bold targets would be a major challenge.
Frosty start, wet weekend for Melbourne
CAROLINE ZIELINSKI Melburnians have woken to a frosty Friday morning – the third coldest in a decade.
Miserable-looking blobfish named world's ugliest animal
The blobfish, a denizen of the Pacific that looks like a bald, grumpy old man, has been named the world's ugliest animal, organisers of the offbeat competition say.
Protesters lodge Federal Court writ to stop King Island wind farm
Andrew Darby Opponents of Australia's largest wind farm project are asking the Federal Court to stop it, after a narrow vote was claimed to have given community support.
