Heatwave exacerbated by climate change: Climate Commission (Australia)

[Matilda]

A new report from the Federal Government's Climate Commission says the heatwave and bushfires that have affected Australia this week have been exacerbated by global warming.

The report - Off the Charts: Extreme Australian Summer Heat - warns of more extreme bushfires and hotter, longer, bigger and more frequent heatwaves, due to climate change.

It says the number of record heat days across Australia has doubled since 1960 and more temperature records are likely to be broken as hot conditions continue this summer.

When Prime Minister Julia Gillard linked the heatwave with climate change this week, the acting Opposition Leader Warren Truss said that was utterly simplistic.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-12/climate-commission-predicts-more-heatwaves-bushfires/4461960


Yet Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has promised that if he leads the country after this year's election (which is a definite possibility), one of his first acts will be to repeal the climate change legislation and abolish the office dealing with climate change matters. And there are enough deniers out there to ensure that a win for him is a distinct possibility. Just what will it take to wake them up?

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Just what will it take to wake them up?

How about a camping trip into the center of the heat wave?

[Matilda]

2. The mining industry is very powerful in this country.

We're a huge exporter of coal, so miners have a lot of clout. Those people who are happy to have their opinion formed by MSM and especially by radio shock jocks, are in denial.

I can only hope that somehow, a few more weeks of incredible heat might prompt some of them to ask themselves if they've got it wrong.