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Environment

The top secret mission to preserve the 'botanical find of the century'

The Wollemi Pine was thought to have gone extinct two million years ago, until an off-duty ranger stumbled across a grove. Now, experts are doing everything they can to give the tree a second chance. 
Updated
Young Wollemi Pine.

The best beaches of Australia revealed

Tourism Australia's Beach Ambassador Brad Farmer created the list of the top 10 beaches of Australia.
ABC News Current
Duration: 4 minutes 21 seconds

Long queues, broken chargers are causing headaches for road-tripping EV drivers

Charger anxiety replaces range anxiety for the growing number of electric vehicle users relying on slow infrastructure.
An electric car drives through green countryside

Raging forest fires kill at least 46 in Chile; toll expected to rise

At least 46 people have been killed by wildfires in Chile with the death toll expected to rise.
Updated
A man pours a bucket of water on a burning building.

Delay to fish kill investigation disappoints environmentalist in call for better monitoring

A Katherine resident is concerned about the quality of information collected by government investigators after it took four days for them to get to the site of a Northern Territory fish kill.
Dead fish among a reedy waterbank

'It could be a painting': Victorian beach named the best in Australia

Crashing waves, beautiful boulders, emus and wombats help Squeaky Beach take out top spot on Australia's Top 10 best beaches.
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White capped waves roll towards the white sand that's surrounded by greenery under a deep blue sky.

'Distrust, uncertainty and anxiety' in regional communities over green energy transition, report reveals

Poor engagement and consultation has led to "material distrust" of renewable energy developers in regional communities, according to a much-anticipated review.
Updated
sign with red cross over transmission lines and towers on farm gate fence

Opposition pledges to defund the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO)

The calls to defund the Environmental Defenders Office have been made in light of criticisms "confected evidence" was presented in their recent case against Santos' Barossa gas project.
ABC News Current
Duration: 2 minutes 2 seconds

Teens catch — and release — rare giant sawfish, and they have the video to prove it

A group of teenagers catch the fish of a lifetime, reeling in one of the world's largest marine species.  
Updated
A huge sawfish and the kids that caught it.

Judge orders logging suspension in area of Tasmania home to rare swift parrot

Environmentalist Bob Brown's foundation is challenging the legality of logging at a forestry coupe in the Huon Valley, south of Hobart.
Swift parrot perched on a tree branch.

Mum wades into snake nightmare as she and son try to save chickens from floodwater

Michelle McKenzie realised she was not alone in the waist-deep water that was rising through her Laidley chook pen, counting 16 snakes trying to escape the water around her home.
A snake on a fence.

Divers capture red handfish as severe marine heatwave poses extinction threat

There are fewer than 100 red handfish left in the wild. As a severe marine heatwave threatens their last remaining habitat, researchers say they had to take drastic action.
Updated
A diver holds up a bag containing a red handfish underwater.

How long will Australia remain a major gas exporter? It depends who you ask

Resources Minister Madeleine King has used a week-long visit to Japan and South Korea to assure both government and business figures that Australia will remain a "reliable supplier" of export gas well into the future.
Madeleine speaks in parliament in a bright red blazer, black glasses and gestures with her left hand.

Shark expert weighs in on whether it is safe to swim in Sydney Harbour after woman's leg mauled

Questions are being raised on the safety of swimming in Sydney Harbour after a woman was attacked by a bull shark on Monday evening. Calls to stay out of the water have been made by local councillors, but what do experts say?
Updated
Paramedics carry a woman on a stetcher

Dutton pledges to scrap funding for Environmental Defenders Office

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he would end funding to the Environmental Defenders Office if the Coalition wins government at the next federal election, accusing the group of engaging in unethical "lawfare" that frustrates mining and energy projects.
Updated
Dutton stands at a lectern speaking, a poster with CME logos behind him.

NT government launches legal action against station over alleged unpermitted land clearing

More than a year after alleged unpermitted land clearing was uncovered at Claravale Station, the NT government's planning minister says he is taking the matter to court. 
Updated
Aerial view of the Daly River next to Claravale Station where land has been cleared to make way for cotton crops.

Australia could be in for another wet year with La Niña likely

Australia's most dominant climate driver, La Niña, has a strong chance of reappearing in 2024, shifting the odds to favour a wet year.
Updated
Two people walk along Palm Cove Jetty in the rain

'What is more important?': Environmental activists throw soup at the Mona Lisa

Protesters throw red and orange soup onto the glass protecting the famous painting to gasps from the crowd in the French capital's Louvre museum.
Updated
Two people throw soup towards a painting.

These crafty couples are turning old silos into glamping, abseiling destinations

"Paint a mural on it" has been the default answer to what to do with disused silos, but some couples across rural Australia are coming up with other clever ways to save the iconic structures from ending up on the scrap heap.
Updated
A woman with brown shirt and jeans and a man with blue shirt and jeans stand under a veranda attached to their silo hotel

Queensland sea rangers install floating roost to protect shorebirds

In Queensland, birds that wade along shorelines and mudflats are critically endangered. But now sea rangers and enviornmentalists are taking protection in to their own hands.
ABC News Current
Duration: 1 minute 53 seconds

analysis:Has Sydney felt more like Cairns lately? You're not imagining it

Millions of Australians up and down the east coast have sweltered through exceptionally high humidity in recent weeks. So where is the humidity coming from?
Woman drinks from her water bottle looking up towards sun in blue sky.

ABC journalist Dan Oakes motivated by speaking up for those without a voice as he is awarded OAM

Dan Oakes, ABC weather presenter Jenny Woodward and former ABC cinematographer David Parer are being celebrated in Australia Day honours 2024.
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A man wearing glasses sitting at a computer with a dog sitting next to him

EPA conducting 'rigorous' investigation after asbestos found in mulch in new parts of Sydney

It comes after 17 positive samples were also returned from the area around Rozelle Parklands this month.
Updated
a closed sign at the december 2023 opened rozelle parklands after asbestos contaminated mulch was found at site

Drowning inquest recommends SA mandate safety equipment on commercial snorkelling tours

A coronial inquest into the drowning death of Ardebby Oh Chua recommends that businesses conducting snorkelling activities should carry an emergency oxygen unit.
A boat docking with people waiting

'Complex' clean-up of asbestos at Rozelle Parklands to begin as investigations into source continue

The inner-west Sydney park will remain closed from Tuesday until April while an estimated 10 tonnes of contaminated mulch is removed.  
a closed sign at the december 2023 opened rozelle parklands after asbestos contaminated mulch was found at site