Latest green news
State adopting softer approach on land clearing
TOM ARUP Decade-old goal to increase amount of native vegetation across Victoria will be dropped as part of sweeping changes to state's land clearing laws.
Environmentalists suing state government over threatened species
TOM ARUP 10:42pm Environmentalists have launched Supreme Court action suing the state government over a failure to draw up plans for the survival of threatened species.
Starving cattle set to graze in national parks
Kym Agius 5:39pm Farmers say they can be trusted not to return to the dark old days of broadscale tree clearing when laws are relaxed in Queensland.
Greenpeace, Coke's 'recycling war' spills into Google
PETER HANNAM 5:15pm The 'recycling wars' between Coca-Cola and Greenpeace have spilt into cyberspace, with the beverage giant snagging the top advertising slot for searches of the environmental group's name.
Giant 5.7 metre python killed, sets new record
1:30pm A record-setting Burmese python has been killed with a knife in a rural US county, after it wrapped itself around the leg of the man trying to capture it.
State to allow grazing in national parks
11:37am Queensland is pushing ahead with its plan to open up five national parks and eight conservation reserves to help feed 25,000 cattle.
New arrival: baby white rhino born at Western Plains Zoo
MELISSA DAVEY 1:08pm After a 14-month gestation period marred by illness, a White Rhinoceros at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Mopani, has given birth to a male calf.
Queen basks by the billabong at flower show
NICK MILLER 9:53am Not one, but two queens have given the thumbs up to Australia's entry in the Chelsea Flower Show in London.
Live blog: Massive tornado strikes Oklahoma City
MEGAN LEVY 12:19pm A huge tornado up to three kilometres wide has flattened entire neighbourhoods, set buildings on fire and landed a direct blow on a primary school in Oklahoma City. At least 51 people are dead.
Energy
'Long, bumpy flight' to a greener America
8:02am From Arnold Schwarzeneggar to Barack Obama, US leaders have poured billions into low-carbon technologies - with very mixed results.
Chinese solar firm sparkles
7:58am JA Solar's focus on margins over volumes paid off as the Chinese solar products maker halved its operating loss in the first quarter by selling more panels in high-margin Japan.
Doggone it - forecasters warm to idea of a rainy winter
PETER HANNAM It's time to dig out the umbrella.
Science
Grow your own body parts
BRIDIE SMITH Researchers are closer to understanding what animals need to regrow their body parts, after Australian scientists established the key role of the immune system in salamanders.
Energy
US shale boom starts to fade
For the past three years, the boom in the US shale oil industry has outstripped all expectations. That may be starting to change.
Autumn dry spell to come to a soggy end
PETER HANNAM It's time to locate that umbrella again, with heavy falls later this week, bringing an end to Sydney's record dry spell.
Swarmageddon to hit US after cicadas awake
The US east coast is bracing for a cacophonous summer as hordes of flying insects emerge for a once-in-a-generation phenomenon popularly known as "Swarmageddon".
Rising heat to increase NY deaths: Nature study
Manhattan may see deaths from heat rise by as much as 20 percent in the 2020s and 90% by the 2080s in a worst-case scenario, a study found.
Keepers push for ban after bees stung by pesticides
ESTHER HAN Urban beekeepers are demanding Bunnings Warehouse remove all products containing neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides, after a European Union ban.
Warming to take longer in reaching forecast levels
TOM ARUP The rate of global warming caused by rising greenhouse gas levels could be slower than previously thought, but will still result in the same eventual higher temperatures as earlier forecast, new research has found.
Beekeepers call for pesticide's withdrawal
Esther Han and Kristian Silva Urban beekeepers are demanding retailer Bunnings remove products neonicotinoid pesticides.
Lots of paws for thought on charity walk
MICHAEL INMAN Julia Gillard took her cavoodle, Reuben, for a stroll around Lake Burley Griffin on Sunday.
When the Sun King's luck ran out
A close look at the rise and fall of Australian-trained Shi Zhengrong and the solar giant Suntech Power he helped build.
Whale of a time
PETER HANNAM The annual northern migration of whales is under way with the first pods now within sight along much of the Sydney coast.
Farm incomes face drought
Damien Murphy With rainfall at record low levels, farmers across Australia are facing some of the toughest drought conditions in years. So why has the government chosen now to change crucial allowances for those in need?
Asbestos verdict in two years
Natalie O'Brien A Sydney judge has taken more than two years to make a decision in a case against the founder of the Clean Up Israel environmental campaign, who has been accused of causing land and water pollution by allegedly dumping asbestos-contaminated waste on his property in Wollondilly.
Hatchet job on native forest logging
Kirsty Needham Taxpayers in NSW are losing money to subsidise the logging of native forests, at an average cost of $671 a hectare, undermining a parliamentary report calling for a massive increase in such logging.
Mermaid makes a splash to help sea creatures
Jackie Dent The water polo team has left for the night and the lights at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre have been turned off. But in the darkness of the diving pool is a shimmering figure, blonde hair flowing, arms floating and body twisting.
Platypus project seeks clean bill of health
Nardine Groch Sponsors of a new website, platypusSPOT, hope to amass a community-driven database on platypus distribution, which they say is essential for the effective management and conservation of the iconic animal.
EU should cull fossil fuel subsidies: Poland
The European Union should scrap fossil fuel and renewable energy subsidies and set a target to cut oil imports to remain the leader in the fight against global warming, according to Poland’s environment minister.
Crossroads for Europe's carbon capture efforts
Gerard Wynn While Europe join Australia in cutting back support for carbon capture and storage efforts?
Carbon
Blowing the carbon budget
John Kemp The carbon budget is destined to be another one that politicians - and the rest of us - break.
Greenland melt threatens to shift northern climate
Greenland ice melting at an expanding pace may begin cooling the North Atlantic and increasing the severity of storms by 2075, said James Hansen, the former NASA scientist who raised concerns about global warming in the 1980s.
Anger as green projects slashed, funds diverted to help cattle exports
HEATH ASTON Australia has all but dumped $75 million worth of projects regrowing forests in the developing world and shelved a $100 million forest carbon partnership with Indonesia.
Obama gives Aussie researcher 31,541,507 reasons to celebrate
PETER HANNAM A Barack Obama tweet is sweet recognition to climate campaigner John Cook.
Cormorant a mixed blessing for anglers
PETER HANCOCK Anglers find fish-eating birds a mixed blessing – on one hand they indicate where the fish are while on the other they frighten the fish by blatantly hunting them while the fisherman curses from the bank.
Sci-tech
Snake could hold secret to light-absorbing material
Nanostructures in ultra-black skin markings of an African viper could inspire the quest to create the ultimate light-absorbing material.
Energy
Australian coal miners face China cap
PETER HANNAM China's new leadership has a new slogan - 'control coal' - and Australia's coal exporters underestimate their resolve to cap consumption of the fossil fuel at their peril, a Chinese researcher says.
Obama secures energy chief, EPA next
President Barack Obama's energy and environment team takes two steps forward after a key vote.
Energy
Solar panels catch up with wind
Gerard Wynn Solar panels were cheaper than wind turbines for the first time last year in certain markets, per unit of capacity, and are rapidly closing a remaining gap in the full cost of power generation.
US weather service's 'game changer' advance
The U.S. National Weather Service is getting a quantum jump in computing power that will significantly improve its forecasting and storm tracking abilities to better protect the country from severe weather.
Trade
China warns EU over solar tariffs
China warned the European Union hat duties on Chinese solar panels would "seriously harm" bilateral trade, upping the tone of criticism a week after the EU said it would move ahead with hefty penalties in June.
Autos
Tesla extends surge as investors pile in
Tesla Motors Inc., the electric-car maker run by Elon Musk, surged as much as 12% on investor confidence in Musk's plan to boost his stake in the company that's selling as much as $US830m in shares and debt.
Tar sands make climate change 'unsolvable': Hansen
Exploiting oil and gas trapped in tar sands and shale threatens to make climate change 'unsolvable' said James Hansen, the former NASA scientist who raised concerns about global warming in the 1980s.
Markets
German split may delay EU carbon fix
Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition blocked an opposition move to debate and vote on Europe's carbon market, highlighting the government's reluctance to take a stance on a proposed fix before Sept. 22 elections.
Records keep falling, but what about temperatures?
PETER HANNAM Sydney's Indian summer is fast becoming an Indian autumn with the mild conditions on Thursday setting a record for late-season warmth in the city.
VicForests attacked over logging plan
TOM ARUP Victoria's state-owned timber company will reduce logging by 25 per cent in the bushfire-ravaged mountain ash forests of the central highlands -- but will wait until mid-2017 to make the shift.
Mine approved in Tarkine wilderness
ANDREW DARBY An iron ore strip mine in Tasmania's disputed Tarkine region has won state environmental approval, further boosting development there.
Sci-tech
Aussie scientists print flexible solar panels
Miles Godfrey Australian scientists have found a way to print large but extremely lightweight and flexible solar panels like money.
Storms blamed for scores of bird deaths
RANIA SPOONER Stormy weather has been blamed for an unusually large spate of native bird deaths on Western Australia's south coast in recent weeks.
Sydney sets late-season warmth record
PETER HANNAM Sydney's Indian summer is fast becoming an Indian autumn with the mild conditions today setting a record for late-season warmth for the city.
Queensland opens up parks to cattle, defying Burke
Queensland will proceed with a controversial plan to allow starving cattle to graze in national parks and conservation reserves despite federal government opposition.
Yes, fish do have ears
Leigh Dayton Tiny bones in a fish ear can tell its life story, aiding conservation efforts.
The secret world of seadragons
Leigh Dayton “Citizen” scientists are helping us learn more about the mysterious seadragon.
Markets
China's carbon market unlikely to go global for decades
China, the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitter, probably won't import carbon credits for two decades, the nation's climate negotiator said.
China invited into Arctic circle
China is granted observer status by the Arctic Council, giving the world's second-largest economy more influence amid an intensifying search for resources in the globe's most northern region.
Australia seeks to limit ocean 'geoengineering'
TOM ARUP Australia has launched a bid to stop the commercial use of a controversial ''geoengineering'' technique that involves dumping iron into the ocean in a bid to counter the effects of man-made climate change.
Australia bid to stop 'ocean fertilisation'
TOM ARUP Australia has launched a bid to stop the commercial use of a controversial ''geo-engineering'' technique that involves dumping iron into the ocean to counter the effects of man-made climate change.
Winter pokes its nose over horizon with snow on Brindabellas
HAMISH BOLAND-RUDDER While Canberrans shivered through a cold, wet Wednesday rangers up in the Brindabellas encountered snow from mid morning.
Not much climate change doubt, science says
PETER HANNAM Having doubts over climate change and the role of humans? You're unlikely to find many scientists who share your uncertainty.
