Early risers are used to the occasional late night straggler loitering on Sydney's Coogee Beach at sunrise. But they are never normally this wild.

A wildflower superbloom is underway in a Californian desert after seven inches of winter rain.

Our best hope may be the weather - but let's not forget about the bigger picture.

Large and powerful surf conditions are expected to batter most of the NSW coast for most of the working week as a low-pressure system that delivered a weekend drenching continues to linger off the state's coast.

Concerns about the health risks of cooking with gas indoors prompted our environment reporter to trial a pollution monitor in her home.

Chris Bowen met with his China counterpart in Egypt for the first ministerial level meeting between Australia and China in five years. Negotiations dragged into the night.

"It is altering the structure and function of natural ecosystems, and affecting heritage, economic activity and human wellbeing."

NSW should place a cap on the amount of thermal coal it can mine and plan an orderly phase-out of the industry within a decade to do its bit to avoid catastrophic climate change, NSW Greens say.

Tasmanian devils with tumours the size of golf balls have had their cancerous growths disappear, after scientists successfully trialled a new way to kick-start the animals' immune system.

Environmental groups are cheering a decision in NSW's Land and Environment Court that found the emissions of greenhouse gases and resulting climate change from a proposed coal mine was among the reasons to reject the project.

In the wake of last month's re-election of the Berejiklian government in NSW, prospects have brightened for a surprising narrowing of the gap between state and federal energy policy.

So how did we get here?

Container deposit schemes are effective in reducing litter and enjoy community support. So why is Victoria the only mainland state not to have agreed to introduce one?

Australia has just experienced the hottest March on record, capping off the hottest first quarter of the year.

Antarctic Bottom Water is a thing, and it's one worth getting into the discussion about the consequences of climate change.