Rising heat to increase NY deaths: Nature study
8:00am 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.
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.
When the Sun King's luck ran out
11:15pm A close look at the rise and fall of Australian-trained Shi Zhengrong and the solar giant Suntech Power he helped build.
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?
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.
Obama gives Aussie researcher 31,541,507 reasons to celebrate
PETER HANNAM A Barack Obama tweet is sweet recognition to climate campaigner John Cook.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Budget
Poor lose out in energy efficiency cuts
PETER HANNAM Government plans to slash energy efficiency programs will fall hardest on poorer households and local governments despite their sizeable returns on spending, industry experts say.
'Blue carbon' emissions on the increase: scientists
The equivalent of Japan's annual carbon load is being released each year as a result of the destruction of the world's coastal and ocean ecosystems, an expert says.
New York to face superstorms every two years
New York will endure catastrophic flooding from storms such as Superstorm Sandy every two years by the end of the century because of the impact of climate change, according to experts.
Sea level rises to exceed IPCC estimates: study
Sea levels may rise as much as 69cm through 2100 as water temperatures rise, glaciers melt in the Andes and Himalayas and ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica shed water, European scientists said.
Rockefeller offers $100m climate aid
Climate The Rockefeller Foundation marked the centennial of its founding with the announcement this morning of a $100 million global disaster-relief fund aimed primarily at helping cities handle climate-related or man-made disasters.
Trade
Canada ruling offers limited view on solar battles
Gerard Wynn Rejection by the world's trade body last week of preferential support for domestic solar panel makers in Canadian province Ontario brings helpful but limited guidance in a growing number of other disputes.
Wrap
Mixed week for renewable energy
Renewable energy-related trade disputes stretching from China to Canada grabbed headlines last week, while General Electric and Warren Buffett's MidAmerican sounded bullish on the US wind market.
Energy
Power giant cuts stake in controversial wind farm
PETER HANNAM EnergyAustralia raises $228m from the sale of 75% of its stake in the controversial Waterloo wind farm in South Australia but says it remains committed to the project’s expansion.
Energy
Germany seeks 'amicable' end to China solar tiff
Germany distanced itself on Monday from the European Commission's proposal to impose punitive import duties on solar panels from China, saying it would prefer an amicable solution.
Climate
Germany's Merkel eyes tougher carbon targets
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she's confident that European Union member states can agree to more ambitious climate protection targets.
Finance
Heavy debt weighs on China's renewable energy sector
Renewable energy companies from China and Hong Kong need to repay $US3.5b of debt this year, prompting global investors to fret that another issuer will follow Suntech Power into default.
Melting Arctic prompts race for routes, resources
When 16th and 17th century European explorers sailed west in pursuit of a trade route to Asia, their search for a Northwest Passage was foiled by Arctic ice.
Energy
Solar PV price falls to slow
Gerard Wynn The latest round of company financial reports suggests that solar module selling prices will continue to fall, although more slowly than previously.
Habitats to shrink without carbon curbs: Nature
The habitats of many common plants and animals will shrink dramatically this century unless governments act quickly to cut rising greenhouse gas emissions, scientists said after studying 50,000 species around the world.
Sun power advocacy lights up
PETER HANNAM Australian residents with solar panels now less likely to be treated poorly, backers say.
Materials
Waste revolution a boost for 'green' steel
PETER HANNAM Rubber, plastics and palm waste are not ingredients most people associate with steel girders and beams.
CO2 at historic high, paves way for 'prehistoric' climate
The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has surpassed 400 parts per million for the first time in human history, US monitors say, sparking new calls for action to scale back greenhouse gases.
Global carbon dioxide levels hit landmark high
PETER HANNAM The planet has set a significant – and unwelcome - landmark with the concentration of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passing 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in more than 3 million years.
US sees little sign of El Nino forming
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the latest data confirmed its forecast that El Nino was unlikely to cause extreme weather in the Northern Hemisphere throughout the summer and into winter.
Energy
Solar shift threatens Western producers
Gerard Wynn US solar module maker and project developer First Solar illustrates wider industry efforts to secure new markets in a shift away from the United States and Europe.
Markets
Carbon market 'champions' undeterred: EU climate chief
Carbon-market supporters from China to California will push for emissions trading even as they prepare for the end of the United Nations Kyoto Protocol in seven years, Europe's top climate negotiator said.
Trade
EU to slap hefty tariffs on Chinese solar PV
The European Union is planning to impose tariffs of as much as 67.9% on solar panels from China to counter unfair pricing in the largest EU trade dispute of its kind, according to a commerce official from the bloc.
Energy
Canada threatens EU over oil sands block
Canada threatened on Wednesday to take the European Union to the World Trade Organisation over its plans to label Canadian oil sands as dirty, but promised not to delay a bilateral trade pact.
Markets
EU's carbon crisis blows back on Australia
The unprecedented collapse in European carbon prices is shattering Australia's budget assumptions just as corporate resistance to the market weakens in the developed world's biggest per capita polluter.
May hot spell sets more heat records
Peter Hannam Another day and another set of heat records from Australia’s unusually balmy autumn.
Energy
Local wind farm curbs point Windlab offshore
Peter Hannam Windlab Systems says on-going doubts about over Australia’s renewable energy policies is prompting it to turn to overseas markets for growth - including sealing South Africa's biggest deal.
Energy
Old King Coal dethroned in US
The shale gas boom means coal's share of US power generation has sunk to a record low of 37%, leaving mining communities in turmoil.
Emissions
US budget cuts block methane curbs
Methane emissions from coal mines escaped being curbed by the US Environmental Protection Agency, which said mandatory budget cuts didn’t leave it with the resources to determine if the pollution is a significant risk.
Markets
EU to vote on carbon rescue plan in July
The European Parliament will hold a second plenary vote in early July on a stopgap plan to bolster prices in the world’s biggest carbon market after it rejected the draft measure last month.
Energy
Samsung tests giant turbine off Scotland
Scotland presses on with plans to cut carbon emissions from the power sector by 80% by 2030.
Carbon
US climate plan would dodge common cuts
The United States' new proposal to let countries draft their own emissions reduction plans rather than working toward a common target can unlock languishing UN climate negotiations, the US climate change envoy said.
Records fall as run of hot weather continues
This year's extreme weather is continuing as Sydney enjoys its longest late-season hot spell in decades, inland records tumble and regions around Perth prepare for a cyclonic-strength storm.
Profile
The surprising rise and rise of Al Gore
In 1999, Al Gore, then US vice president and a Democratic candidate for president, sold $US6,000 worth of cows. His fortunes have soared ever since.
Policy
Europe faces 'sea-change' against climate policies
Europe's program to halt climate change is in disarray with lawmakers in the region expressing concern the drift is undermining the planet's most significant effort to combat global warming.
Rapid acidification threatens Arctic: study
The Arctic ecosystem, already under pressure from record ice melts, faces another potential threat in the form of rapid acidification of the ocean, according to an international study.
Energy
Power demand slump saps emissions
PETER HANNAM A sharp fall in electricity demand in NSW and a continuing surge in hydropower means carbon emissions are now 10 million tonnes lower since the introduction of the carbon tax, research shows.
Just the ticket for anti-coal protesters
PETER HANNAM Anti-coal campaigners take to Melbourne's landmark Flinders Street Station. Source: Supplied.
Energy
Fusion evangelist sees light at end of the tunnel
Chris Bishop weilds a laser 1000 more powerful than the US electricity grid in a bid to find unlimited, non-polluting energy.
Features
What carbon tax means
What actually is the carbon tax? Your questions answered.
A price on carbon
Graphic on how carbon pricing is intended to work.
Dramatic shrinking
Alarming photos of a Greenland glacier that has melted.
Answering the sceptics
John Cook lists the sceptics' arguments and gives answers.
