Weather Talk: The Australian Oven

Extreme weather is one of the many faces of climate change. These events (superstorms, hurricanes, droughts, heatwaves) will occur more and more often as global temperatures rise. Of course, this doesn't mean that they will happen all the time, and it doesn't mean they necessarily will happen in your neighbourhood. But, this increased frequency is a fact.

It's hot in Sydney: Over 47ºC (116ºF), according to this article by Alex McKinnon. And Australians had better get used to it, as it seems this is the "new normal summer" the continent will be getting for the foreseeable future. This is the extreme weather they're getting, and reasonably, everyone from scientists to firemen are alarmed.

Everyone? No! Politicians resist!

Australia is the world's largest coal exporter, and coal-based energy production is one of the leading causes of greenhouse gas emissions. The Australian government has consistently ignored the facts of climate science, pushing an ever more ambitious fossil fuel agenda.

Now, people in Sydney are literally dying of heat stroke. So maybe, says McKinnon, politicians will react. The Guardian reporter tells the story from the bottom up, climbing from the heat on the streets of Sydney's suburbs to the science that explains it, going from there to parliament, where a handful of people seem to be living on a different planet altogether. The article masterfully connects the facts with their causes. Weather talk, yes, but an important discussion.