Head of international energy body says policies are important, but the economic facts "are stubborn".

A political divide is forming over renewable energy's future in Australia.

In the United States in November, in a single 48-hour period, two hugely significant things happened. One of them received worldwide attention but the other, somewhat improbably, might yet turn out to be more important.

Australia posted its fourth-hottest year in 2016, driven by record sea-surface temperatures around the nation, in a period marked by frequent extreme events, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Evidence the earth saw a slowdown in global warming over the past couple of decades has been further eroded

"It feels like you are at the centre of the Earth."

This year was Sydney's hottest year even without massive heatwaves but a monster mid-year storm provided the wildest weather.

If Santa really lived at the North Pole his sleigh would run the risk of falling through the ice.

World temperatures are likely to dip next year from a sizzling record high in 2016, when man-made global warming was slightly boosted by a natural El Nino event in the Pacific Ocean, scientists said on Tuesday.

A new power station for south western Victoria will be among the offers to multinational Alcoa when federal and Victorian industry ministers Greg Hunt and Wade Noonan fly to New York on Monday.

The world is a confusing place, fraught with danger and despair. We all want to do the right thing by the planet, but often it's difficult to determine exactly how to do that.

Relief from the heat is just hours away after temperature records tumbled overnight.

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When it comes to climate science, President-elect Donald Trump has been a purveyor of conspiracy theories for years.

A sweaty night that has even bureau staff camping out in tents will make way for another hot day.

Report reveals the growth rate of renewable energy jobs in the ACT is six times higher than any other state or territory.

A 10-fold rise in methane emissions rings fresh alarm bells on the climate front.

Renewable energy can add resiliency to electricity grids and there's no reason why individual states can't set their own goals higher than a national target, says a US industry veteran.

Donald Trump will pick an ardent opponent of President Barack Obama's measures to curb climate change as head of the Environmental Protection Agency - a choice that enraged green activists and cheered the oil industry.

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The irony of the hysterical attack by some MPs is that by ensuring the scheme isn't on the table they are likely to further aggravate the problems they describe in doomsday language.

Victorian govt hires Canberra's 'Mr Renewables' as clean energy advocate

Here's why you should find optimism - but also deep concern - about the major energy trends.

Green Army's demobilisation is just the latest retreat since 2013, ACF says.

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Watch out for some 'taking out the trash' of unhelpful climate news.

State and city governments worldwide are leaving their federal counterparts behind on climate change.

While odd things are happening at both ends of the globe, it's the South Pole that is harder to decipher.

People can fixate on polar bears and say "it's a pity but it doesn't affect me'. They're wrong, a conservation biologist says.

Donald Trump, who called climate change a hoax during his campaign and vowed to pull out of the Paris accord, now says global warming might be real after all.

A threat by the incoming Trump administration to the climate research of US space agency NASA would be disastrous for global efforts to monitor and counter global warming, Australian researchers said.

A senior NASA official has taken the extraordinary step of personally rebuking One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts' claims the agency had falsified key data.