They’ve warned us of the increased frequency of extremely destructive storms and the increased length of crippling droughts. Virtually all of them agree that global warming leading to climate change is human induced, now we are getting to see what they mean.

Just at a cursory glance over the last five years: 

2012: “Freak” storms and widespread flooding across England; “freak” storms across Northern USA; “freak” storms across southern West Australia and northern Queensland – Townsville “smashed”.

2013: Highest temperatures recorded in California; March: “freak” weather across Ukraine, northern France and Channel Islands; July: highest temperatures ever recorded, Europe and China; Nov: “freak” storms across Nordic countries; “freak” storms across Philippines; Australia, hottest year on record.

2014: Jan: “Unusual” warmth in Alaska, significant ice melt; extreme drought in California; “freakish” heat in NSW and Q’land. Feb: “extreme” weather across southern England; “freak” storms in Tokyo; “freakish” ice storms across southern USA. July: “freak” temperatures in Russia, Iraq and Iran – temperatures to 50C; “extreme” storms, Ghana; “freak” floods, Myanmar; “extended drought”, Brazil.

2015: “Freak” heat-wave on the sub-continent, temps to 48C; 36C, London; June: “ice storm” on south coast NSW - Malua Bay; June/July: extreme wildfires, west coast USA, Canada, Alaska; Greenland’s ice shelf retreats – 50% ice loss; Oct: “freak” storms devastate Philippines – dozens killed; Nov: “freak” storms Yemen – 40,000 people displaced. Oct/Nov/Dec: “extreme” drought, South Africa. 

2016: Jan: “freak” storms across New England and Great Lakes, USA; Jan/May: New heat records Alaska; April: hailstones “the size of footballs” in Wylie, Texas; May: “freak” storms across India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia; Sept/Oct: now “annual” devastation of Caribbean and east coast USA, Haiti badly hit.

Just some of the instances that might not be in the forefront of memory. You can always google for more details and count the number of times the words “freak” and “extreme” are used.

Last week we had an “extreme weather event” across W.A and S.A. that blew over 20+ transmission towers and blacked out S.A. but before the emergency was over, the spine-free marionette we now call P.M. was on his feet trying to blame the disaster on the renewable energy that the state had fed into the grid.

That is exactly the energy that climate scientists are demanding that we move to with all haste to avoid more extreme catastrophe and loss. But obviously the fossil fuel lobby has the ear of government puppets and that’s what happens when you turn the globe over to vested interest and multinational corporations. We’ve all watched the tobacco industry sell death to kids around the world and watched James Hardy sell danger to Australians long after they knew what they were doing.

How many lives have been lost and how much will it eventually cost taxpayers to clean up Australia after that industry?

We may not be so lucky with the globe if the fossil fuelers and governments continue pushing to extract the last buck now.