Australia’s Angry Summer – we all need to respond to this

We have not heard much recently about the climate change debate. We have been pre-occupied with the economic and social problems of Europe and the UK.

In Australia, where the economy is doing much better, the big issue is the exceptional adverse weather they have been experiencing. Government scientists have produced a report on The Angry Summer.

The graphics convey the scientists’ message starkly

They argue that the climate has shifted

Of course the climate change deniers are apoplectic.

We should accept the evidence and take responsibility, the climate is changing and it is hostile change.

Human beings will not destroy the earth – but we are on track to make it a very uncomfortable place for us to live, the change is happening now. For our children? We are bequeathing them a world  fit only for far fewer people living a much more miserable life.

This report provides a summary of the extreme weather of the 2012/13 summer and the influence of climate change on such events.

Key facts:

1. The Australian summer over 2012 and 2013 has been defined by extreme weather events across much of the continent, including record-breaking heat, severe bushfires, extreme rainfall and damaging flooding. Extreme heatwaves and catastrophic bushfire conditions during the Angry Summer were made worse by climate change.
2. All weather, including extreme weather events is influenced by climate change. All extreme weather events are now occurring in a climate system that is warmer and moister than it was 50 years ago. This influences the nature, impact and intensity of extreme weather events.
3. Australia’s Angry Summer shows that climate change is already adversely affecting Australians. The significant impacts of extreme weather on people, property, communities and the environment highlight the serious consequences of failing to adequately address climate change.
4. It is highly likely that extreme hot weather will become even more frequent and severe in Australia and around the globe, over the coming decades. The decisions we make this decade will largely determine the severity of climate change and its influence on extreme events for our grandchildren.
5. It is critical that we are aware of the influence of climate change on many types of extreme weather so that communities, emergency services and governments prepare for the risk of increasingly severe and frequent extreme weather

The report and graphics are available at

http://climatecommission.gov.au/report/the-angry-summer/