Autopsy hope in dead bird mystery: A tiny dying wattle bird being rushed to Perth this morning could hold the key to the mystery deaths of thousands of birds that dropped from the sky in the southeastern holiday town of Esperance. The Australian

2006 warmest year on record in US: The year 2006 was the warmest in the contiguous United States since record keeping began 112 years ago, due in large part to an unusually warm December, U.S. government weather forecasters said on Tuesday. Reuters

Dell urges PC industry to go green: Michael Dell, chairman of Dell Inc. (DELL), has issued a challenge to the entire PC industry to adopt free recycling programs for customers as he announced that his company would offer to plant a tree for every PC sold.  MarketWatch

Snow may be gone from Kosciuszko by 2050: A new CSIRO report into climate change is predicting an uncertain future for the New South Wales high country’s Kosciuszko National Park. The report, commissioned for the NSW Greenhouse Office, says snowfall by the year 2050 will almost be non-existent. As snowfall decreases there will be less catchment run-off, which would seriously affect the Snowy River and Murrumbidgee catchment areas. ABC (South East NSW)

EU’s challenge to the world: The European Commission presented “the most ambitious policy ever” to fight climate change on Wednesday, challenging the world to follow Europe’s lead in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The European Union’s executive branch proposed the 27-nation bloc reduce emissions by at least 20% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, with the possibility of going to 30% if other developed countries join in. Scientific American

Marie Claire asks John Howard to cool it: Marie Claire magazine is running an online petition at their website asking John Howard to focus on renewable energy, not nuclear power.