Latest green news
Fossilised seal bone discovered off Beaumaris beach is about six million years old
BRIDIE SMITH It was its odd shape that made the fossilised piece of bone stand out on the sea floor. Seasoned amateur diver Ross Wilkie hadn't seen anything like it before. So he did what any collector would do. He plucked it from its watery world and took it home.
Fire warning as temperatures set to soar Saturday
![By 2050 the number of heatwave days could more than triple in Melbourne.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2011/11/10/2765379/heatwave-90x60.jpg)
CAROLINE ZIELINSKI 4:44pm Victorians are being urged to prepare for a dangerous fire day on Saturday, with temperatures predicted to soar to more than 40 degrees in parts of the state.
Love-nest antics downright bizarre
![Bees.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/26/5036105/lat24-20bees-20th-20131226165349881801-90x60.jpg)
NICKY PHILLIPS Polygamy, orgies and death after five-second sex. Nicky Phillips has seen it all.
Cool, wet weather an eerie reminder of Christmas past
![umbrella](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/24/5033727/th_umprella-90x60.jpg)
MEGAN LEVY Christmas Day revellers who had hoped to spend a sunny day on Sydney's beaches had their plans thwarted once again this year, with the heaviest rain in more than a month drenching the city on Wednesday.
Sydney weather: rain expected for Christmas Day and Boxing Day
MEGAN LEVY Revellers who are planning to hit the beach or the backyard cricket pitch on Christmas Day have been urged to start the action early.
UN steps up diplomacy ahead of 2014 climate summit
![UN considers chemical weapons handover (Thumbnail)](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/09/10/4734006/UN_sm-90x60.jpg)
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed former Ghana President John Kufuor and former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as special envoys on climate change to drum up support for a planned global conference in September.
Customs ship should be sent to disrupt Japanese whaling: Bob Brown
![Terrified: Bob Brown.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2012/06/05/3351468/bob-brown-90x60.jpg)
TOM ARUP An Australian government ship should be sent to disrupt Japanese whaling in a similar fashion to the Sea Shepherd, the environment group's local head Bob Brown says.
Canberra Christmas weather could dampen spirits late in the day
![A wet Christmas](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/23/5031162/dm-th-christmas-20131223125732688909-90x60.jpg)
HAMISH BOLAND-RUDDER Canberrans planning a Christmas lunch or dinner outdoors should enjoy perfect temperatures, but might need to have the brollies at the ready as the forecast shows the chance of showers.
Anti-whaling group attacks Greg Hunt over breaking election promise
![-](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/22/5030003/th-sa-antiwhaling3-20131222192131430519-90x60.jpg)
Goya Dmytryshchak Anti-whaling activists have slammed the federal government for breaking an election promise to send a ship to monitor Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean.
Puckapunyal kangaroo cull 'our dirty little secret': Activists
![Fiona Corke](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/21/5028704/Dan-20131221190401223427-90x60.jpg)
Laura Banks Activists have set up camp outside Puckapunyal army base in a bid to stop the ''slaughter'' of 6000 kangaroos.
Great white hunter the bane of pesky rodents
![Black-shouldered kite](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/21/5027879/Kite-thumb-90x60.jpg)
PETER HANCOCK When it comes to controlling mice and other pests, the black-shouldered kite is an expert.
2013 Australia's hottest year on record
![A busy Williamstwon beach with todays hot weather ,
Photo Pat Scala The Age
Thursday the 19th of December 2013](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/20/5027086/kjbeachthumb_20131220192303439742-90x60.jpg)
PETER HANNAM 2013 is the year Australia marked its hottest day, month, season, 12-month period and, by December 31, hottest calendar year.
Simple techniques allow Australian consumers to make large savings on electricity bills
![John and Liz Eleftheriou](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/20/5027454/th-Mahony-90x60.jpg)
PETER HANNAM For Liz Mahony, it was annoyance over a mounting electricity bill that irked her into action.
Climate policy will cap funds at $1.55bn
![Climate Study (Thumbnail)](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/10/10/4817335/TH-Climate-Change-90x60.jpg)
PETER HANNAM The Abbott government's hallmark climate change policy to replace the carbon tax highlights the scale of the task to cut greenhouse gas emissions in an expanding economy, with limited funds and many details yet to be settled, according to the green paper on the plan.
Clive Palmer gets green light for China First coalmine
![Clive Palmer](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/15/5011900/Dan-20131215193718526020-90x60.jpg)
PETER HANNAM Christmas has come early for mining billionaire and newly minted MP Clive Palmer, with the federal government approving his monster China First coalmine in Queensland's Galilee Basin.
Coalition's coal push adds hurdles for its climate plan, green paper reveals
![Coal power plant.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/11/22/4944531/ZAH_coal_TN-20131122022113244804-90x60.jpg)
PETER HANNAM The Abbott government's climate change policy to replace the carbon tax highlights the scale of the task to cut greenhouse gas emissions in an expanding economy, with limited funds and many details yet to be settled.
Government approves Clive Palmer's coalmine in Queensland
![Clive Palmer](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/15/5011900/Dan-20131215193718526020-90x60.jpg)
PETER HANNAM Christmas has come early for mining billionaire and newly minted MP Clive Palmer, with the federal government approving his monster China First coalmine in Queensland's Galilee Basin.
Gladstone Harbour bund wall failures explained
![Vision demonstrating failings in the bund wall at Gladstone Harbour.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/20/5027329/aa-harbour-thumb-20131220203729843476-90x60.jpg)
TONY MOORE Two senior engineers have told exactly how the controversial bund wall in Gladstone Harbour leaked in 2011 and 2012, letting dirty dredge spoil flow out to the Great Barrier Reef.
Sydney weather: second hottest day of the year
![Hot weather](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/13/5008755/th-Heatwave-90x60.jpg)
PETER HANNAM Many Sydney residents sweltered through their hottest day since last January's record heat and inland suburbs are set to suffer through more days of uncomfortable warmth.
Resident says government either 'hypocrites or liars' over koalas
![Koala](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/20/5026849/aa-koala-thumb-20131220183544998847-90x60.jpg)
TONY MOORE Mt Cotton resident Ian Bridge accused the Queensland Government of being either "hypocrites" or "liars" after deputy premier Jeff Seeney approved the giant Barro Quarry development in important koala habitat at Mt Cotton.
Baby sharks take their first nibble in public
![Whitetip reef shark](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/20/5026150/th-whitetip-reef-shark-90x60.jpg)
Two whitetip reef shark babies have had their first public feed at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium's new Shark Nursery.
Australia urges safety for whalers and protesters
Australia has joined the Netherlands, New Zealand and the US in urging Japanese whalers and anti-whaling protesters to refrain from dangerous behaviour during the annual hunt.
Friday scorcher: Canberra on track for 37 degrees
![News: Brook Coppfrost age 13 from Adelaide splashes in the Kambah river with brother Daniel age 12 and Issac Brown age 13. 10th of October 2013, Canberra Times Photograph by Katherine Griffiths](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/20/5025039/LR_hot-th-20131220122842834536-90x60.jpg)
Tom McIlroy Canberra is on track to swelter on Friday with forecasters expecting a top of 37 degrees or higher.
Greg Hunt confirms backing for whaling patrol as decision deadline looms
![Whaling](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2009/01/04/339392/th_whaling-90x60.jpg)
ANDREW DARBY Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt has just hours to meet his self-imposed deadline to make a decision on whether the government will send a patrol ship to the Southern Ocean whaling area, but has confirmed his backing for a patrol.
Cool change: Melbourne's weather forecast revised down
![sun](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/07/17/4576116/dh_sun-20130717075302822570-90x60.jpg)
Stephen Cauchi Melbourne's forecast top today has been revised down to 26 degrees, eight degrees cooler than what was originally forecast.
Waging war on the environment does not add up
![Dugald Murray.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/19/5023369/DugaldMurray_dinkus-90x60.jpg)
Dugald Murray In the closing days of this year, Australia's unique and fragile environment is under attack like never before. After just 100 days in government, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has waged a war on environmental programs.
Heatwave hits Sydney
![7am Bondi Beach](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/19/5023036/Weather-20131219175654871142-90x60.jpg)
PETER HANNAM Summer's first burst of heat will send the mercury soaring across Sydney on Friday.
Canberra weather forecast for warm nights, hot days
![Hot weather pic. After breaking up from school, 13 year old Xavier Graham from Lyons, cools off in Lake Burley Griffin](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/19/5022745/dm-th-weather-20131219164842557162-90x60.jpg)
TOM MCILROY Canberra is set to swelter through its hottest nights since last summer, with the city's nighttime lows staying above 17 degrees on Thursday and Friday.
State on way to hottest December day in three years
![Melbourne has sweltered through its hottest December day in two years.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2012/12/23/3910898/th-sun-90x60.jpg)
Caroline Zielinksi, Stephen Cauchi Melburnians are sweltering through the hottest December day in three years with the city hitting the forecast top of 40 degrees.
State on way to hottest December day in three years
Stephen Cauchi Victoria is on track for its hottest December day in three years with most of the state – bar Gippsland – hitting temperatures in the 30s before midday.
Freed Australian Greenpeace Arctic 30 activist tells of amnesty relief
![Greenpeace International activist Colin Russell](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/11/18/4934728/df_thumb_Colin-Russell-20131118233123764244-90x60.jpg)
ANDREW DARBY Australian Greenpeace activist Colin Russell has told of his relief after an amnesty led to his freedom from three uncertain months under the weight of the Russian judicial system.
Science
Neanderthal toe points to history of incest
![Early man, prehistoric, primate neanderthal, caveman, generic.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/19/5020418/th-Neanderthal-toe-reveals-incest-20131219023632175111-90x60.jpg)
BRIDIE SMITH The fossilised toe of a 50,000 year-old Neanderthal woman shows inbreeding was not uncommon in our nearest extinct relatives.
Renewable energy target faces cut by Abbott
![A solar dish.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/07/17/4578553/th-solar-dish-90x60.jpg)
TOM ARUP Prime Minister Tony Abbott has signalled his government is preparing to slash Australia's renewable energy target citing 'changed circumstances' and a desire to be an 'affordable energy superpower'.
3D titanium shoes may save horses from euthanasia
![Holly the horse has been fitted with new 3D printed titanium shoes which are helping her walk again.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/19/5020430/_20131219011619795578-90x60.jpg)
Lydia Hales Shoes are always a nice Christmas present, especially when they reduce pain from a serious inflammatory disease.
Amnesty for Greenpeace Arctic 30
![Alexandra Harris Hearing At Murmansk Court
Bail hearing for Greenpeace International activist Alexandra Harris (from the United Kingdom) at the Murmansk District Court . Alexandra Harris is one of the 'Arctic 30' who are now in custody charged with piracy, punishable for up to 15 years in prison.
Photo Credit: ? Denis Sinyakov / Greenpeace International](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/19/5020428/_20131219005013520874-90x60.jpg)
Andrew Darby Three months after their ship was seized and they were arrested, Greenpeace's Arctic 30 have been granted an amnesty in a vote of the Russian parliament, the environmental organisation said.
Warning issued over handling Canberra bats
![Bats in the trees at Commonwealth Park near stage 88, Canberra. .](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/18/5019465/dm-th-bat-20131218165453928862-90x60.jpg)
Unusually high numbers of people requiring anti-rabies treatment has prompted a renewed government warning about the handling of bats.
Heat wave rolls in
![NEWS: The sunsets over Lake Burley Griffin as temperatures hit above 30 degrees in Canberra . 18th December 2013. Photo by MELISSA ADAMS of The Canberra Times.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/18/5020219/ajk-thumb-waether19-20131218221130792121-90x60.jpg)
Tom McIlroy, Peter Hannam Australia is in the grip of its first heatwave of the summer
Santos faces fines for Pilliga coal seam gas salt spill
![Pilliga Forest](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/03/26/4142523/rw-pilliga2-20130326202717665464-90x60.jpg)
Gas giant Santos' NSW branch could be slapped with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines after it admitted to failing to report contamination and excessive salt levels at a drilling site in the state's northwest.
Question mark over Australian government's whaling conflict zone patrol
![ACV Ocean Protector at Christmas Island](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/18/5018656/ship-thumb-90x60.jpg)
ANDREW DARBY Pressure is rising on the Federal Government to clarify its plans to monitor the Antarctic whaling conflict, with a key government patrol ship seen near Christmas Island, thousands of kilometres away from the whaling area.
Global water scarcity predicted to rise by 40%
![Don't mention the drought thumb](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2011/08/03/2533754/mentionthedrought_320214-90x60.jpg)
Lydia Hales Global water scarcity already on the rise due to exploding global populations may be amplified by up to 40 per cent due to climate change.
Shade sails over pools 'may only provide partial protection' for children
![Toddlers pools shade](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/18/5018517/320pool-90x60.jpg)
DEBORAH GOUGH Shades over toddler pools provide only partial sun protection and children may be exposed to more ultraviolet radiation than the parents watching over them.
Warning for holidaymakers as summer warms up
![bondi](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/18/5020166/th-791181913-90x60.jpg)
PETER HANNAM Australia is in the grip of its first heatwave of the summer with the Bureau of Meteorology warning holidaymakers to stay hydrated and to avoid prolonged exposure to the sun.
Energy
Coal 'prime culprit' behind climate change but can we live without it?
![Abbot Point Coal Terminal, near Bowden.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/09/23/4771113/aa-galilee-thumb-20130923135245418238-90x60.jpg)
John Kemp "There is no denying the controversial reality of coal," Maria van der Hoeven, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), wrote in its annual report on the coal industry, published on Monday.
Energy
UK to open region as big as Wales for shale exploration
![Shale gas](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2011/11/15/2773258/PO-xshalegas_20111114232848809448-90x60.jpg)
The U.K. government is ready to open an area the size of Wales for shale drilling next year, doubling the space available for exploration.
Christmas beetle numbers on the decline as imposter numbers grow
![The Argentine and Native Chafer beetles](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/17/5017290/th-790880705-90x60.jpg)
JULIE POWER Just like Santa Claus, when it comes to Christmas beetles the real thing is bigger, rarer and shinier than the fakes that abound in Sydney's centre at this time of year.
Bankstown residents accuse Sydney Water over sewage overflow plan
![khal](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/17/5017411/th-mayor-90x60.jpg)
PETER HANNAM A plan by Sydney Water to shift its sewage overflow problem up the Georges River is "a disgrace" that treats Bankstown residents "like second-class citizens", mayor Khal Asfour said.
Australian government cuts billions of dollars from social programs
![indigenous flag](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/17/5017395/th-489537287-90x60.jpg)
Gareth Hutchens, Peter Hannam The federal government has cut billions of dollars from programs ranging from the environment to health and indigenous legal aid.
Evidence mounting small dogs suffer small-man syndrome
![PSE jbpet27 NEWSPet of the week. 24/10/2011 PIC STEPHEN WARK SPECIAL 00000000](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/17/5017632/_20131217225709226759-90x60.jpg)
Small dogs suffer from a canine equivalent of short-man syndrome, researchers believe, making them more aggressive.
Science society urges governments to axe cattle grazing trial in Victorian Alps
![The Age
News
3/02/2011
Picture Justin McManus.
Alpine National Park Cattle Grazing.
Cattle grazing on the Drago High Plains.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/17/5017624/_20131217225202771850-90x60.jpg)
Tom Arup Victoria's leading scientific society has called on the state and federal governments to abandon plans for a cattle grazing trial in the Alpine National Park, saying peer-reviewed evidence shows it would fail to cut fire risk.
Chained protesters arrested at NSW mine
![protest](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/18/5017579/320-protest-90x60.jpg)
Two protesters who chained themselves to a truck to try to stop work at the controversial Maules Creek coal mine project in northwest NSW have been cut free and arrested by police.
Abbott government strips environmental legal centres of federal funding
![AFR 26 August 2013 The Australian Financial Review GREAT LEGAL DEBATE at Norton Rose Fulbright, Sydney . The Panel : Mark Dreyfus QC - AG and George Brandis QC - Shadow AG.
PIctured George Brandis QC - Shadow AG. Pic by Sasha Woolley
IMG_4719 copy.jpg](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/09/30/4788632/th-brandis-90x60.jpg)
TOM ARUP Australia’s environmental legal centres have lost their federal funding in a move that could see the closure of some of the nine offices around the country.
Protestors vow to save 'beautiful forest' from Whitehaven coal mine
![Coal worker.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/07/23/4595481/ZAH_coal_TN-20130723233052889451-90x60.jpg)
Opponents of a northwest NSW coal mine vow to continue protesting, after human barricades stopped tree-clearing bulldozers entering the site.
Energy
Germany shifts priority to economy ahead of renewables
![Brandenburg Gate](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/07/23/4594685/ch_th_boris-20130723173328930678-90x60.jpg)
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s new cabinet sends a message on her priorities: Nurturing Germany’s economy takes precedence over the drive to renewables.
Markets
EU passes law to mop up carbon permit glut
![European Union](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/06/25/4517069/EU_sm-90x60.jpg)
The European Union adopts an emergency law change to alleviate a record glut of emission permits in the region’s carbon market and help prices recover from near all-time lows.
Coogee beach: Increased stink of sewage getting up residents' noses
![coogee](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/16/5014940/cn16-thumb-coogee-20131216213920222294-90x60.jpg)
PETER HANNAM Coogee residents want answers from Sydney Water about an increase in pumping from sewerage pits that regularly emit foul smells over a large area of the north end of the popular beach.
More desal plants not the answer, says government
![CO2 plant at the Victorian Desalination Plant.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/10/30/4875296/ZAH_desal_TN-20131030224620464418-90x60.jpg)
Tom Arup Melbourne's substantial future water needs should be met by capturing more rainwater from rooftops and drains and encouraging water recycling, not new desalination plants or dams, the state government says.
Get ready for a week of hot weather in Melbourne
![A generic heat wave photo of a man walking silouetted by the setting sun in Darwin.
Photo Glenn Campbell](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/11/08/4908632/ph_heatTHUMB_081113-20131108223023933619-90x60.jpg)
Mustafa Nuristani Melburnians can expect a scorcher this week with the mercury forecast to hit 40 degrees by Thursday.
Canberra Christmas weather to be warm as hot air approaches
![At Big Splash in Macquarie, people took to the water slides.](http://web.archive.org./web/20131227220951im_/http://images.smh.com.au/2013/12/16/5013479/dm-th-hot-20131216130551438367-90x60.jpg)
HAMISH BOLAND-RUDDER Canberra should brace for its hottest spell of weather since last summer, as Christmas Day shapes up to be hopefully a fine, warm day.