Disaster: Properties across central Queensland are inundated by floodwaters. The Fitzroy River was at 8.8 metres - and expected to rise to nine metres Woman, 41, drowns trying to drive across flooded road as natural disaster in Australia reaches ‘biblical proportions’. Australia’s disastrous floods have claimed their first fatality. A 41-year-old woman died after she tried to cross... 

From 1 January shops will have to stop supplying shoppers with plastic bags A ban on plastic bags is coming into effect in Italy, which has one of the highest rates of consumption of the bags in Europe. The ban begins in shops across Italy on 1 January, with only biodegradable, cloth or paper bags to be offered. Italians use 20 billion plastic bags a year – more than 300 per person. Supporters... 

A new report circulating in the Kremlin today prepared for President Medvedev by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the United States, in 2010, continued its headlong descent into becoming one of the most feared police states our modern World has ever seen. The term police state as used in this report describes a government that exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic... 

An estuarine crocodile better known as the saltwater or saltie, lying in the sun on the banks of the Adelaide river near Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory. Flooding in Australia's tropical north has prompted a warning about crocodiles, with several of the reptiles spotted in swollen waterways, an official said Monday. Flooding in Australia’s tropical north has prompted a warning... 

Arctic conditions: A bus tries to make its way through Tunbridge Wells, Kent, as bad weather sweeps across the country Ten years ago global warming “scientists” were saying the opposite, that Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past. So if winters become warmer it’s global warming’s fault and if they become colder it’s still global warming’s fault. So whatever... 

This winter is poised to bring a chilling surge in death rates as Britain braces for an Arctic blast, with temperatures rivalling Siberia and the coldest conditions in a century. Experts are forecasting a significant rise in cold-related fatalities, estimating a staggering 12 deaths every hour during the harshest winter in recent memory. As the bitter cold sets in, concerns about a potential death... 

A remote weather station. Scientists have signed up to two new initiatives that aim to provide the media with accurate climate science information. Two initiatives will provide information for journalists as elections bring strong sceptic presence to new Congress. Hundreds of scientists have signed up to two new campaigns that seek to regain control of the message about climate science. The two separate... 

If you want to see beauty on earth, pack your bags and head to Plitvice lakes located in Croatia. The Picturesque beauty of the Plitvice lakes makes it one of the oldest tourist sites. Sixteen lakes form the Plitvice lakes National Park. These lakes are surrounded by three mountains. So one can see why the lakes are so admired for their distinctive colors, azure, green, grey or blue. The colors may... 

Bee colonies across the country are dying because of colony collapse disorder, and researchers say a combination of a virus and a fungus could be playing a key role in the bees' sickness. There’s a lot of buzz in the scientific community about a new study linking the collapse of honeybee colonies to a fungus and insect virus first seen in Asian bees. “Our data suggests that these two... 

When you live in a city, it’s easy to forget that we are surrounded by the greatest show in the Universe: The Universe itself. This sky comparison chart is the sad proof of that. Sadly, missing the awe-inspiring show of all those planets, stars, and galaxies dancing around us is the price humans had to pay for having observed it in the first place: When our prehistoric ancestors studied the... 

Hungarian disaster management spokesman Dr Attila Nyikos says a large scale clean-up is under way Hungary says it will cost tens of millions of dollars and take at least a year to clean up the damage caused by a spill of toxic, red industrial sludge. Emergency workers are trying to stop the spill, from an alumina plant, from flowing into major waterways, including the River Danube A state of emergency... 

Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of Uganda's most popular safari destinations. Anthrax has killed at least 83 hippopotamuses in a popular Ugandan game park that saw a similar outbreak six years ago, an official said. Tom Okello, area conservation manager at Queen Elizabeth National Park in south-west Uganda, says 83 hippos are dead. The park, one of Uganda’s most popular safari destinations,... 

The heatwave has caused forest and peat fires across Russia As Muscovites suffer record high temperatures this summer, a Russian political scientist has claimed the United States may be using climate-change weapons to alter the temperatures and crop yields of Russia and other Central Asian countries. In a recent article, Andrei Areshev, deputy director of the Strategic Culture Foundation, wrote, “At... 

A couple embrace, with buildings shrouded in smog in the background, in central Moscow, August 15, 2010. Acrid smoke from forest and peat bog fires which blanketed Moscow until early last week returned to the Russian capital Sunday as wildfires are still burning around the city. The concentration of carbon monoxide in Moscow air on Sunday morning was more than five times higher than the usual level... 

Russia Burning Russian research scientist Dr. Andrey Areshev writing for the Kremlin’s independent think tank Strategic Culture Foundation warns that the catastrophic fires raging throughout the Motherland may have been caused by American weather weapons and states that “the incidence of the current anomalously high temperatures exclusively in Russia and some adjacent territories invites alternative...