Climate calling

A new study has found trees across Australia are dying at a faster rate than new ones are growing, a trend that is contributing to an increase in carbon emissions. The research, led by Western Sydney University and published in the Nature Plants journal, has found trees in all types of ecosystems - from tropical rainforests to eucalypt forests - are thinning as the climate warms.

Almost seven million people living on the expanding fringes of Australia's capital cities are at risk from urban fires similar to those seen in Los Angeles last year. The warning, by former Australian fire chiefs and the Climate Council comes as the country is set to swelter in one of the most significant heatwaves of recent years.

In recent weeks, bushfires have claimed homes and property on the New South Wales mid-north coast, in Geraldton in Western Australia and in Tasmania's east. Experts are warning this is only the beginning of the fire season and anyone travelling for the holidays needs to be aware and prepared when they're away from home.

Indigenous rangers from the Great Barrier Reef are learning coral spawning techniques in one of the largest reef restoration trials to date. The pilot program involves rangers working in the reefs off Queensland's Keppel Islands, which were hit hard by last year's mass coral bleaching event.

The latest bushfire outlook forecasts an increased fire risk across parts of Australia this summer. Despite recent rainfall in the country's southeast, authorities say it won't take long for a blaze to take hold.