Latest environment news
Major flooding events 'on the increase'
Peter Hannam New research published as eastern Australia braces for second east coast low in as many weeks.
Warragamba Dam wall to be raised to avoid catastrophic flood event
![Warragamba Dam, Sydney's main catchment, last spilled over in August 2015 - and may again on Monday.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/k/j/n/l/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpkqly.11u395.png/1466343874378.jpg)
Sean Nicholls Three days before Warragamba Dam could spill due to severe storms, the Baird government has committed to raising its wall to prevent a potential flood disaster in western Sydney – but four years later than it was initially advised.
Pipedream realised: Broken Hill to get water from the Murray in $500m project
![With the Darling River all but dry in places, NSW will spend big to pump water from the Murray River.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/p/9/l/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpkjg2.11u395.png/1466063715408.jpg)
Peter Hannam Water from the Murray River will be pumped all the way to Broken Hill as part of a $500 million investment to provide a "safe and secure water supply" for the outback town, the Baird government said.
'The hairiest question' to ask
![Warragamba Dam, Sydney's main catchment, last spilled over in August 2015 - and may again on Monday.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/8/y/w/m/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpkazp.11u395.png/1466315530609.jpg)
Peter Hannam Sydney's major dams may spill next week if a forecast storm brings even moderate rainfall to the area.
Wind farm boom looms as Andrews looks to boost clean power
![Premier Daniel Andrews at the site of the Ararat wind farm.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/i/s/c/i/a/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpj3f9.11u395.png/1466030318178.jpg)
Adam Morton Victoria would have 40 per cent clean electricity in less than a decade - nearly tripling the current level – under an ambitious plan announced by the state government.
Reef's melomys is world's first mammal climate casualty: scientists
![Extinct: The Bramble Cay melomy.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/j/7/3/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpj73v.11u395.png/1465949050628.jpg)
A rodent that lived on a low-lying coral cay in the Torres Strait has become the first mammal in the world to vanish as a result of human-induced climate change, researchers say.
Canberra weather: Snow expected when rain clears
![Emergency services warned motorists to drive to the conditions when the predicted wet weather arrived.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/m/t/0/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpmmnc.png/1466333245447.jpg)
Clare Colley 8:47 PM The rainy weather may have forced most Canberrans to spend the weekend indoors, but when the clouds clear snow-seekers can look forward to the first big snowfalls of the season thanks to a cool change expected later in the week.
A wet Sunday as flood warnings issued for NSW
![The storm caused chaos both online and offline during the last June downpour.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/c/9/l/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpmbyn.png/1466303631043.jpg)
Kate Aubusson, Emma Partridge 12:09 PM Sydney's Sunday will remain soggy for most of the day with parts of the city expected to cop up to 50 millimetres of rain.
Mother fights off mountain lion that attacked her five-year-old son
![A woman has described how she pulled a mountain lion off her young son.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/e/y/p/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpmi7w.png/1466285119810.jpg)
Elahe Izadi 7:25 AM ​The woman was inside of her Colorado home Friday night when she heard the screams.
Sydney weather: Batten down the hatches: second storm on its way
![Sydney is expected to cop heavy rain this weekend.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/c/9/l/j/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpm6c1.png/1466232440943.jpg)
Peter Hannam Emergency crews expect to be on standby until at least Monday as another east coast low is forecast to bring heavy rain and possible flooding to parts of New South Wales.
'No leadership and no commitment'
![Renewable energy accounted for 36 per cent of SA's electricity in May – and only one quarter of that total in NSW.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/h/s/g/u/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gplh8k.png/1466213328457.jpg)
Peter Hannam It's the one issue on which NSW is being outpaced by almost every other state.
Counting the cost major storm events before they happen
![Works at Collaroy beach earlier this month to shore up the collapsed foreshore after the recent east coast low.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/e/2/j/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gplh4j.png/1466220623839.jpg)
Peter Hannam As coastal councils brace for another hammering of their beaches over the weekend, new research methods are emerging that could help local communities assess the threats from beach erosion.
Barnaby Joyce warns live cattle exporters after Vietnam abuse revealed
![Footage depicts a bull being sledgehammered to death in Vietnam.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/l/1/k/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpln1f.png/1466160100969.jpg)
Distressing footage appearing to show Australian cattle being bludgeoned to death with sledgehammers in Vietnam has sparked renewed calls to ban live cattle exports.
'Increased chance of flooding' as rainy weekend predicted
![With the soil and catchment saturated from the last weather event, there will be an increased chances of flooding this ...](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/b/q/3/v/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gplkwg.png/1466149170367.jpg)
Clare Colley Showers on Friday were just a preview for even wetter weather Canberra can expect over the weekend.
The lie that diminishes us all
![Peter Martin dinkus](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/z/q/y/b/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpl9gf.png/1466147713352.jpg)
Peter Martin We tell ourselves we are compassionate to the people and creatures in our care. But that's not true.
Australian cattle 'killed with sledgehammers' in Vietnam
![Footage depicts a bull being sledgehammered to death in Vietnam.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/l/1/k/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpl1of.png/1466147079436.jpg)
Chloe Booker Distressing footage appearing to show Australian cattle being bludgeoned to death with sledgehammers in Vietnam has sparked renewed calls to ban live cattle exports.
Supermarkets will be scrambling for enough free range eggs
![Amanda Mutton at the Long Paddock free range egg property at Bungendore.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/j/d/f/0/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpj70j.png/1466078039477.jpg)
John Thistleton "Supermarkets want $1-a-litre milk on the supermarket shelves, but don't want $3-a-dozen eggs.''
The 'giant army' marching across Port Phillip Bay
![A Great Spider Crab in Port Phillip Bay. Picture supplied by Sheree Marris.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/k/m/3/j/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpkmbk.png/1466124856865.jpg)
Darren Gray It's an annual spectacular underwater show that occurs in the shallow waters off the beaches of Port Phillip Bay. And it's happening right now.
Flush manufacturers buckle to environmental pressure
![A blockage of wet wipes also known as a fatberg.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/b/8/i/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpj5mx.png/1466038146298.jpg)
Julie Power Public outrage over wet wipes blocking sewers has prompted giant paper and wipes manufacturer Kimberly Clark to introduce what it claims is a more flushable version of its ripple brand toilet wipes for adults.
Science
Super-coral may take heat off reef bleaching
![A diver checks out the Barrier Reef coral bleaching at Heron Island.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/o/m/b/j/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjf42.png/1465984022604.jpg)
Peter Spinks The uncanny ability of Kimberley corals to withstand high levels of heat stress raises hopes for the stricken Great Barrier Reef.
CFA brigade loses money for fuel reduction works
![A CFA brigade has had to return about $37,000 after it breached conditions of a grant.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/j/s/a/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpjsht.png/1466161709997.jpg)
Darren Gray A CFA brigade in the Dandenong Ranges has been forced to return about $37,000 of funding amidst allegations that an endangered native plant was bulldozed during works on a project it led.
'Potential for more severe weather'
![Coogee Surf Life Saving Club staff survey the damage after the big storm earlier this month.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/f/z/1/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpj8se.png/1466037404220.jpg)
Peter Hannam Residents across an arc of eastern Australia stretching from Queensland to Tasmania should be on watch for more potentially severe weather this weekend as another winter storm loom, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Queensland set for another drenching
![Parts of Queensland are in for a drenching.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/j/6/d/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpj5ko.png/1466037432656.jpg)
Forecasters say southern Queensland will cop another drenching.
India puts 18 lions on trial for murder, and the culprit may get a life sentence - in a zoo
![A file photo of an Asiatic Lionesses in Gir National Park, in the state of Gujarat, India.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/j/3/z/c/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpj46a.png/1465935451033.jpg)
Max Bearak Police have rounded up 18 male suspects wanted for the murder of three in Gujarat, an arid western Indian state.
Labor would grab back enviro controls
![Eastern quoll at the Mount Rothwell conservation centre. Labor says it will do more protect the environment.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/i/9/a/n/2/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpiicn.png/1465919113894.jpg)
Peter Hannam A Shorten government would consider a national environmental protection authority as part of efforts to grab back key conservation controls devolved by the Coalition from Canberra to the states.
Prioritise Reef over coal: survey
![Hunter Valley open cut coal mine](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/t/d/6/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpim6w.png/1465949478284.jpg)
Nicole Hasham A thumping majority of Australians want the health of the Great Barrier Reef prioritised over coal mining, according to a survey of more than 63,000 Fairfax Media readers.
Flooding and beach erosion possible as another storm looms
![Collaroy's beach front houses were among those hardest hit from the early June event.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/d/a/p/g/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpibw0.png/1465942435050.jpg)
Peter Hannam NSW may be in for another winter storm bringing heavy rain and a coastal storm surge with another east coast low projected to form off the coast.
Canberra colder than Thredbo on Monday morning
![Overnight temperatures are tipped to remain low for much of the week.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/c/f/i/f/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpho12.png/1465808873725.jpg)
Katie Burgess Thredbo top station had nothing on Canberra on Monday morning.
Carp virus will leave masses of dead fish in Canberra lakes
![Charlie Diedo has caught and released hundreds of carp in Lake Burley Griffin.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/d/8/4/l/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpcs3e.png/1465730429377.jpg)
John Thistleton Research begins to avoid Canberra stench over biggest ever carp cull.
'The tip of the iceberg'
![Farmers have been cutting down paddock trees at an increasing rate.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/h/8/p/o/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gph8m5.png/1465725733700.jpg)
Peter Hannam The state's farmers have lopped paddock trees at an accelerating rate in the past 18 months even before a new land-clearing law eases controls further, government figures obtained by the Greens show.
Woman ditches corporate life to save elephants
![Sharon's moment kissing Willa when she was pregnant and needed comforting.](/web/20160619182505im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/g/r/j/3/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpgr5e.png/1465648163402.jpg)
Amy Mitchell-Whittington One woman's battle to save her family of elephants in Africa.