Forecasters have warned of flash flooding as Britons brace themselves for the latest phase of winter weather chaos.
While the snow flurries were moving north up to Scotland, temperatures were expected to rise across the rest of the UK.
weather presenter Sarah Pennock, warning of heavy rain on Friday, said: “We wouldn’t normally [...]

The Australian government’s plans to enact a law for an emissions trading scheme have been thrown into chaos.
A revolt within the opposition Liberal Party means a key deadline for the Senate to pass the legislation has been missed.
Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull had agreed with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to pass the scheme in the Senate, [...]

Three UK groups studying climate change have issued an unprecedented statement about the dangers of failing to cut emissions of greenhouse gases.
The Royal Society, Met Office, and Natural Environment Research Council say the science underpinning climate change is more alarming than ever.
They say the 2007 UK floods, 2003 heatwave in Europe and recent droughts were [...]

The rate of deforestation in the Amazon has dropped by 45% and is the lowest on record since monitoring began 21 years ago, Brazil’s government says.
According to the latest annual figures, just over 7,000 sq km was destroyed between July 2008 and August 2009.
The drop is welcome news for the government in advance of the [...]

The last year has seen a major increase in the illegal ivory trade, with more involvement from organised crime.
Figures compiled by Traffic, the agency charged with monitoring the trade, show a doubling in the volume of illegal ivory seized from 2008 to 2009.
Researchers believe most of it is poached in West and Central Africa, while [...]

Banning trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna is justified by the extent of their decline, an analysis by scientists advising fisheries regulators suggests.
International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas’ (ICCAT) advisers said stocks are probably less than 15% of their original size.
The analysis has delighted conservation groups, which have warned that over-fishing risks the [...]

Conservationists are telling people not to approach a 9ft (2.74m) whale after it was spotted off the Dorset coast
The northern bottlenose, which has been named Gilbert after an RNLI lifeguard who spotted him, has been seen swimming near Bournemouth Pier and in Poole Bay.
Rescuers fear if the mammal feeds only on small fish in the [...]

Environmentalists have warned that an oil slick caused by an accident on a rig in the Timor Sea is threatening wildlife in Australian waters.
Oil has been flowing from the West Atlas platform for three weeks.
Safety authorities have been using chemicals to try to break up the spill but warn it could be at least two [...]