ENVIRONMENT

Bob, the American software programmer who outsourced his tasks to Chinese developers and instead spent time watching feline videos, would surely disagree with a proposal by Gareth Morgan, a New Zealand economist. And so would other cat lovers too because Mr Morgan, in his Web site (http://garethsworld.com/catstogo/), suggested the gradual extinction of the country's cat population because of the threat the animals cause to native bird species.

Two recent reports, released separately, forecast higher demand for coal in the next five years and its impact in terms of additional carbon dioxide releases.

Stocks of gas face masks as well as air purifiers have sold like hotcakes in China early this week as the Asian country fights and cleans off its worst yet smog pollution which hit large parts of Central and East China over the weekend. Such a price the country has to pay in exchange for global economic supremacy.

A 12-metre, 45-tonne dead male sperm whale washed up on the Paraparaumu Beach in Kapiti Coast, New Zealand on Wednesday. A whale expert said the mammal probably died after suffocation.

The bushfires raging across New South Wales has caused about $1 million damage to the state's stock. Although there are no lives lost or homes razed due to the blazes, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said about 10,000 sheep were lost in Yass shire alone.

World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Australia insisted over the weekend that Queensland does not need new coal ports in and near the Great Barrier Reef. WWF based its assessment on the state government's Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy Economic Analysis that said coal ports in the area are operating at only 52 per cent of their planned capacity.

Although the last Doomsday prediction that the world would end on Dec 21, 2012 was an epic failure, red-faced Mayans would not prevent other apocalyptic forecasters from prophesying end times.

A study of the activity in the South China Sea reefs had shown the coral reefs in the area greatly deteriorated at the expense of the economic growth activities in mainland China.

Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and South China Sea Institute of Oceanology researchers blamed China's economic boom for the shrinkage by at least 80 per cent of coral reefs in the region over the past three decades.

Scientists from the West Australian Department of Fisheries are looking into the odds that the rising high temperature of the sea waters in the state are what caused sharks to swim near the shore and eventually attack humans.

With the end-of-the-world scenario now over, Australians would likely be able to concentrate on the Christmas and New Year celebrations, which would mean a lot of food preparations. It also means a lot of wasted food. Throughout the year, Aussies waste $8 billion worth of food, said a study by Do Something!, released on Sunday. Based on an estimated volume of four million tonnes of food thrown away yearly, Do Something! founder John Dee reckoned the value of per capita wastage at $1,036.

Australian scientists sounded alarm on the possibility that catastrophic tsunami waves could swamp Queensland coastlines in the event of a very powerful earthquake hitting the region.

A walking catfish, a devilish-looking bat, a singing frog, a ruby-eyed pit viper and a two-legged lizard are among the newly-discovered species in the Greater Mekong region that the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) has listed on its new report titled Extra Terrestrial.

Some people are anxious because of the “End of the World” prediction as per the Mayan Calendar and often wonder if there are places here on Earth where they will be safe.

Many are wondering if the Mayan Calendar 2012 is true and if the world will meet its end on Friday, December 21.

"If you're watching this video, it means one thing: the world didn't end yesterday," begins a NASA video of Mayan calendar doomsday debunking. Obviously, the video was supposed to be released Dec. 22, 2012.

Australia's efforts to save the Great Barrier Reef will be judged by the United Nations' environmental arm UNESCO in 2013, a deadline that will likely push efforts to the limits as this would be a make or break for the tourist attraction if t it is deserving as UNESCO's World Heritage site and worth to be preserved.

It has been a hot debate whether the world will end on Friday, December 21, as per the infamous Mayan Calendar 2012.

The Mayans had in no certain terms predicted the planet will explode or implode on Dec. 21, 2012. But some people still worry, and many of them are calling institutions like NASA to ask doomsday questions. The scientists, in turn, have repeatedly assured those who are panicking that Earth remains safe in 2012.

PacX Wave Glider, the self-controlled swimming robot, reached Australia on Thursday, Dec 6, after a 9,000-nautical mile journey from San Francisco over one year.

The United Nations Weather Agency confirmed that a portion of the Arctic Ice melted with a size area larger than the United States. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) also stated at the climate talks in Doha that the 2012 Arctic ice melt is one of the numerous weather events to occur on planet Earth.

The animals have adapted over tens of thousands of years to an environment that is growing increasingly fragile.

Better weather conditions aided the dedicated firefighters in controlling the bushfire that endangered homes at Port Lincoln on Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. According to Connie Hassouros, Country Fire Service spokesman, about 120 firefighters have already set up a control line around the bushfire’s border overnight.

Australians have witnessed Mother Nature’s wrath when a massive waterspout formed for about 20 minutes on Batemans Bay in New South Wales. Several footages of the waterspout, where stunning images of the dark grey whirling vortex was captured, quickly circulated on social networking sites.

The total solar eclipse Wednesday can be observed via free webcasts. Where to watch online? Australians should rise early to share the experience real time with those camping out in Cairns, Queensland. Viewers from other time zones should adjust your clocks accordingly. Interested in prep webcasts? Know where to go.

A total solar eclipse is an awe-inspiring natural phenomenon. Many people would travel across the world just to see it progress slowly in a span of hours. But everyone is warned against the dangers of looking directly into the sun even when it would appear to be largely covered by the passing moon.

If you think that you have already seen everything, better brace yourself as Mother Nature offers another amazing thing to shock us. Like the one-eyed goat born in Perundurai, Erode, India.

Two years ago, a female spade-toothed beaked whale and its offspring was discovered aground near the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand.

Latest findings from a study conducted by scientists at the University of Queensland in Brisbane showed slurry from farms in Australia had been contributing to the collapse of the corals in the Great Barrier Reef.