ENVIRONMENT

It's been six years since the dawn of white-nose syndrome - a bat-killing fungus that's sweeping west across North America - but the disease is so fast and stealthy that scientists are still struggling to keep up.

A 3,500-year-old bald cypress tree known as "The Senator" burned to the ground in Big Tree Park in Longwood, Fla., earlier this week, bringing forth mournful comments from the people who lived near it and from around the globe.

As we head into 2012, many of us will be resolving to lose those few extra pounds, save more money, or spend a few more hours with our families and friends.

Two degrees increase in the global temperature by 2050 would heighten the loss of life according to an Australian research.

There are simple and inexpensive measures to cut back on soot and methane that once employed could save millions of lives and slow climate change for years to come, according to an international team of scientists.

Australia should join the bandwagon of nations that are putting in place high-speed rail networks, the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) pushed on Monday. The transport group pointed out that Australia and Antarctica are the only continents without a high-speed rail network.

Residents at the coastal and island communities between Pardoo and Whim Creek, including the communities of Pardoo, Port Hedland, South Hedland and Whim Creek in Western Australia are forewarned of the intensity of the coming Cyclone Heidi, which is expected to hit tonight.

Climate change is changing the financial landscape of Australian insurance companies. The Insurance Australia Group (IAG), whose profit margin is expected to be hit anew by natural catastrophes, warned that the changing and less-predictable climate has the potential to reduce insurers' capacity to calculate, price and spread the weather-related risk.

Researchers have discovered genetic traces of a giant tortoise species believed extinct for 150 years in living hybrids on the Galapagos island of Isabela.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) killed last week about 300 Asian honey bees found on a cargo ship in Townsville, which came from Port Moresby. The operation was made after DAFF biosecurity officers inspected shipping containers and the vessel which subsequently led to the extermination of the bees.

The three anti-whaling activists, Geoffrey Tuxworth, Simon Peterffy and Glen Pendlebury, who were held onboard a Japanese whaling ship will not be charged and will be turned over to Australian authorities, reports said.

They seem like something straight out of a horror movie. Ants with huge heads and large jaws that is reminiscent of the creature features of the 50's. Unfortunately for those with deep seated phobias of ants, these giant headed insects are due for a comeback as scientists from McGill University in Canada have recreated these super-soldier ants by using ancient genes to trigger their development in modern day ants.

Australia's carbon tax scheme is put on the limelight again after China announced last week the adoption of a carbon tax scheme effective 2015. China aims to reduce its carbon emissions by as much as 40 per cent to 45 percent by 2020.

Amid a plan by China to start collecting a $1.55 per tonne carbon tax, the measure is becoming more unpopular in countries and regions where it has been imposed or would soon be collected.

The Australian government is in diplomatic talks with Japan to secure the release of three anti-whaling activists who are presently held on board a Japanese ship, Shonan Maru II, which they boarded around 16 miles off Australia’s west coast on Saturday night.

A Slovenian biologist-environmentalist-photographer-pilot has started a round-the-world solo flight Sunday using an ultra-light plane that consumes small amount of clean unleaded fuel with the aim of promoting the protection of the environment.

The ill-fated MV Rena has further split in two pieces in a bout of bad weather over the weekend, and the salvors estimate that only 20 per cent of its 200 to 300 containers could be saved now that the cargoes have been washed overboard.

Europe's tallest active volcano, Mount Etna, erupted for the first time this year on Thursday sending ash cloud 5,000 metres into the air. The eruption also sent lava flowing into the deserted Valle del Bove area.

Bay of Plenty is forecast to experience another episode of harsh weather over the weekend, making salvors worry about the fate of MV Rena, which is still stuck on a reef despite being split in two on the surface. Maritime officials, however, said they are prepared for the worst.

Spider silk is one of the toughest materials and adaptable materials around. Spiders use this wonderfully flexible material to trap and crush prey and build durable webs. It's strong and elastic enough to stretch several times its original length.

Insurance Australia Group (IAG), the country's largest vehicle and home insurer, forecast that it would pay up to $720 million in 2012 for catastrophe reinsurance because of disasters such as floods, cyclones and bushfires that hit the country in 2011.

American scientists have cracked the mystery of honeybees moving like zombies before dying. The behavior and deaths are now linked to the collapse of honeybee colonies in the U.S. since 2006 that is threatening crop production.

With evidence mounting linking the U.S. energy industry's use of the process of hydraulic fracturing also called fracking to the hundreds of small earthquakes from Oklahoma to Ohio, how safe is fracking in Australia?

Yet at the height of its power the city was eventually abandoned. The reasons for this mass exodus of nearly 750,000 people from the city remained a mystery to archeologists with many theories being proposed to explain the decline of Angkor. Now one team of researchers has suggested the citizens abandoned the city because of a prolonged drought and the state's inability to cope with climate change.

Residents and business owners in Hunter Valley reiterated its call for the New South Wales (NSW) government to ring fence the region from coal seam gas (CSG) exploration and production.

New research* shows that Australians are largely uninspired at work, and with new year's day behind us, those feeling least motivated are likely on the lookout for a new job already.

The Department of Environment and Resource Management is investigating a police officer who allegedly slaughtered 20 kangaroos on a Fraser Coast property at Booral in Queensland.

About 25 million tons of Japanese tsunami debris – boats, pieces of smashed buildings, appliances, and plastic, metal, and rubber objects of all shapes and sizes – may end in the U. S. shores, NOAA scientists said.

The technology would pack a lot of energy into a small space and allow laptops and iPhones to run for weeks without refueling.