These orang-utans boast genetic, skeletal and tooth differences from the two other species.

Humans can have more empathy for dogs than their two-legged friends, a new study suggests.

Senior officials considering lending public money to develop Australia's biggest coal mine have known for months of environmental and financial problems surrounding the proponent Adani, internal emails reveal.

The number of countries in which greenhouse gases has peaked continues to rise, representing a "critical turning point" in the task of curbing climate change, according to a report by the World Resources Institute.

The rise of Donald Trump and even the likes of One Nation's Malcolm Roberts can be halted, the prominent UK science broadcaster says.

The world must do more to curb climate change, with Australia among those singled out by the UN to do more.

A seven-month old Tasmanian devil named Hurricane has made an unlikely friend while being hand-raised by zookeeper Elyshia Wignell.

The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose by a record rate last year.

A classic southerly cool change is on the way for Sydney.

Security guards had to tackle one protester who tried to interrupt her television interview.

Summer is about to make a return to Sydney. But it will only be a fleeting visit.

Explorer Tim Jarvis charts the world's vanishing glaciers on his latest mountaineering expeditions.

The fence was installed as part of $4.36 billion upgrade of the Pacific Highway between Woolgoolga and Ballina.

Most Australians associate turtles with the ocean, not realising their shy, freshwater cousins are in rivers, lakes and farm dams all over the country.

The Antarctic ice sheets are melting faster than earlier understood, prompting updated modelling to re-assess for the risks of rapid sea level rise.

The earth is a fragile thing that could even destroy itself, Pope Francis told astronauts on the International Space Station on Thursday, saying they had an opportunity to see the planet "from the eyes of God".

Sydney and the Hunter region have been battered by storms overnight with heavy rain, hail and flash flooding.

Stormy weather is forecast for Sydney this afternoon with damaging winds, hail and flash flooding.

The family of a man who shot dead a NSW environment officer has been slapped with record fines totalling more than $700,000 for illegal land-clearing offences.

Visitors to Taronga Zoo over the next month are likely to be confronted by an unusual exhibition as they meander their way between enclosures.

The pair were ensnared about 200 metres off Nobby Beach.

The chances of a wetter-than-average summer for eastern Australia are increasing, with a La Nina weather pattern likely to take hold in the Pacific.

It made headlines last year when, in all likelihood, it become the first mammal driven to extinction by human-induced climate change. But what if its name – not just carbon emissions and rising seas – played a role in the demise of the Bramble Cay melomys?

Wildlife photographer Brent Stirton has won the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award.

The fashion house has announced it will no longer use animal fur, beginning with its spring summer 2018 collection.

Cicadas' fairy-like wings have near-magical powers to withstand bacteria, a doscovery that has fascinated nanoscientists Gregory and Jolanta Watson.

There was a moment of stunned silence at a hastily arranged teleconference of energy ministers on Tuesday evening.

The Turnbull government's national energy guarantee could supply as large a share of renewable energy into the market as proposed by the Finkel Review, Bloomberg New Energy Finance says.

Renewable energy's share of the electricity sector will plateau from 2020 under the Turnbull government's energy plan.