By David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia

(Reuters) – The record floods sweeping Australia’s Queensland state are the result of a natural swing in Pacific Ocean temperatures that can trigger climate chaos around the globe.

Scientists say the floods are caused by one of the strongest La Nina episodes on record with experts forecasting it will last for several more months. The disaster, which has killed 16 people, could cut Australia’s economic growth by 1 percent, a central bank board member said.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Climate change has likely intensified the monsoon rains that have triggered record floods in Australia’s Queensland state, scientists said on Wednesday, with several months of heavy rain and storms still to come.

But while scientists say a warmer world is predicted to lead to more intense droughts and floods, it wasn’t yet possible to say if climate change would trigger stronger La Nina and El Nino weather patterns that can cause weather chaos across the globe.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asia’s powerhouse economies are turning cautious on national plans to price emissions and instead pursuing incremental steps that could delay a global carbon offset market.

Pressures from business and uncertainty over the shape of a U.N. climate pact mean the region will be reluctant to impose steep carbon costs while competitors such as the United States struggle to take action on emissions caps.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asia’s powerhouse economies are turning cautious on national plans to price emissions and instead pursuing incremental steps that could delay a global carbon offset market.

Pressures from business and uncertainty over the shape of a U.N. climate pact mean the region will be reluctant to impose steep carbon costs while competitors such as the United States struggle to take action on emissions caps.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The outcome of U.N. climate talks in Mexico this month should boost steps in Asia to curb greenhouse gas emissions, with China a likely bright spot in 2011, a senior analyst at a leading U.S. think tank said.

The talks helped put the troubled U.N. negotiations back on track but failed to agree on a broader pact meant to avert every more extreme droughts, floods, heat waves and rising sea levels.

JAKARTA/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Indonesia has chosen once of its largest and richest provinces to test efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by saving forest and peatlands, a key part of a $1 billion climate deal with Norway.

Central Kalimantan province on Borneo island is the second largest producer of greenhouse gases among Indonesia’s 33 provinces because of deforestation, destruction of carbon-rich peat swamps, and land use change, the government says.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Studying the way glass or other brittle objects shatter can help scientists hone their weather forecasts and predictions of future climate, a study released on Tuesday says.

The study found that tiny particles of dust, released into the air when dirt is broken apart, follow similar fragmentation patterns as glass.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Poor data, minimal funding and lax enforcement are undermining the fight to protect endangered species, raising the risks from the spread of pests and diseases, scientists say in a study made public on Friday.

Destruction of habitats, over-hunting and climate change have already driven the extinction rate for plants and animals to the highest level since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago, the United Nations says.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Poor data, minimal funding and lax enforcement are undermining the fight to protect endangered species, raising the risks from the spread of pests and diseases, scientists say in a study made public on Friday.

Destruction of habitats, over-hunting and climate change have already driven the extinction rate for plants and animals to the highest level since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago, the United Nations says.

CANBERRA/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Australia’s fragile government is under increasing pressure to deepen its target to cut carbon emissions after U.N. climate talks in Mexico ended with an agreement to step up the fight against global warming.

Failure to harden the target would anger the Greens, whose support is vital to Australia’s ruling Labor Party, but risks enraging the powerful mining sector and conservative opposition.