The most important health check in years warns the Great Barrier Reef’s prospects are “very poor” despite the government pouring millions of dollars into programs to help it cope with climate change and other threats. The Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report was released with little fanfare on Friday afternoon,  minus commentary from the federal government. The five-yearly report is a …

Global heating will drive billions of people out of the “climate niche” in which humanity has flourished for millennia, a study has estimated, exposing them to unprecedented temperatures and extreme weather. The world is on track for 2.7C of heating with current action plans and this would mean 2 billion people experiencing average annual temperatures above 29C by 2030, a …

Australia’s weather is influenced by many climate drivers. El Niño and La Niña have perhaps the strongest influence on year-to-year climate variability in Australia. They are a part of a natural cycle known as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and are associated with a sustained period (many months) of warming (El Niño) or cooling (La Niña) in the central and eastern tropical Pacific. The ENSO …

Finance has taken centre stage at the COP27 climate talks, with UN experts publishing a list of projects worth $US120 billion ($185 billion) that investors can back to help poorer countries cut emissions and adapt to global warming. A $US3 billion water transfer project between Lesotho and Botswana and a $US10 million plan to improve the public water system in …

The federal government will reserve 30 per cent of land for conservation to improve biodiversity and set a goal of no new extinctions in an overhaul of its threatened species action plan. The new plan, to be outlined by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek on Tuesday, includes a commitment to protect an additional 50 million hectares of land by the end …

Researchers trialling a potentially groundbreaking chlamydia vaccine for koalas are concerned their results could be compromised if a gas company is allowed to explore in the area. Santos, the company behind the Narrabri Gas Project, holds petroleum exploration licences on the nearby Liverpool Plains in north-west New South Wales. It has applied to undertake seismic testing, which uses reflected sound waves to …

Australia’s biggest renewable hydrogen project will go ahead in the Pilbara, with support from the federal and state governments. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) on Friday announced a grant of $47.5 million towards French energy company ENGIE’s green hydrogen and ammonia project near Karratha in Western Australia. Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the project would …

NSW fire authorities warn the state could face a “big grassfire season” this summer on the back of significant grass growth fuelled by recent wet weather. NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Rob Rogers on Wednesday warned wet conditions had boosted grass growth across the state while bush regeneration from the Black Summer bushfires was occurring faster than predicted. He said …

Australia’s energy supply will be assured by a faster transition to renewables but the “safety net” capacity mechanism will not affect the emissions reduction target, the climate change minister says. The government will also push ahead on legislating its 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030 target despite the opposition declaring it will not support it. Chris Bowen wants faster …

The conservation status of koalas has been downgraded to endangered with the NSW government acknowledging the beloved furry marsupial is at risk of becoming extinct. The status of koalas was changed to endangered on Friday following a final determination from the NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee, which noted habitat loss had significantly affected lessened populations. In the last two decades …