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"Coal-fired electricity may have little or no economic future in Australia, a new analysis has found. While the new government seems determined to turn its back on renewable energy, our study shows that even without a carbon price, and even with the assumption that carbon capture and storage will eventually become commercially available, coal may not be able to compete with renewable electricity."

"There have been fierce arguments this week about whether it's opportunistic to discuss climate change in connection to the devastating New South Wales fires. Amid all the bluster, it's surprising that we've heard so little from one group of experts: frontline emergency service workers, including the firefighters risking their lives for the rest of us. Yet if you do ask for their opinion - as we did for a study released in June this year - many, ....... , are not reluctant to talk about climate change. In fact, quite a few of the emergency workers and planners we interviewed said we should be talking about it more, if our communities are to be better prepared for disasters like the one unfolding in NSW right now."

"In the American West, wildfires are essential for keeping forests healthy. But the same fires that help release nutrients and promote new plant growth can also wipe out thousands of acres of forest and cause millions of dollars in damage. Since the 1970s, wildfires have been on the rise and some of this is due to a warming planet. But increased wildfires because of hot climate is not the whole story. Here we look at the way climate can affect vegetation in the West, and what influence this has on wildfires. Drought and rainfall can have very different wildfire outcomes depending on where you look in the West."

"Unsubsidised renewable energy is now cheaper than electricity from new-build coal- and gas-fired power stations in Australia, according to new analysis from research firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance. "

Each week NASA's State of Flux website features images of different locations, showing the effects of climate change, urbanization, or natural hazards such as fires and floods. If you select the 'map view' option you can view a Google Map of all the locations so far covered. If you then select a marker on the map you can view two images of the location that have been taken at different times. If you scroll to the bottom of the page you can also find a number of links to browse the images by different categories, such as 'extreme events', 'human impacts' and 'top picks'.

"A coal-fired power station in Canada is launching carbon capture and storage on a commercial scale. Could this make burning fossil fuels guilt-free?"

"Australia's early bushfires this year may be part of an ongoing trend towards an increase in both the overall fire danger and the length of the bushfire season."

"December 02, 2009 , 9:24 AM by Prue Bentley In the last 24 hours, Tony Abbott has come under fire for his comments on the veracity of climate change. The media has seized on his claim to a small local Victorian paper that "climate change is crap". In the context of his leadership this is curious as Mr Abbott seems to have spun 180 degrees in his estimation of human influenced climate change in as little as a few hours / votes. The paper in question happened to be the Pyrenees Advocate and the Editor of the paper, Craig Wilson, was there when those words were uttered."

"Switched off "