Sometimes the Low Numbers Matter Too

2013 was the hottest year in Australia's recorded history.  We know that the country is setting new records this year.  Sometimes, though, there's as much to be learned by looking at the coldest temperatures.  The map below depicts last year's Australian minimum temperatures.

Only Part of Australia is Flooded

The theory of global warming forecasts severe weather events, particularly cyclical floods and droughts or, as we call it, California.   Look at the evidence.  It's not hard to find.   Brazil inundated, people losing their lives in mudslides.   Meanwhile, just to the west, the Amazon rainforest is being ravaged by mega-drought.   Some stretches of the Amazon River itself have dried up, cutting off transport to upriver villages.

And then there's Australia.   For several weeks news accounts have told us of the awful flooding in Brisbane and parts north - people forced out of their homes, mines flooded, erosion and massive damage to the Great Barrier Reef.  But what about the rest of the country?

Sydney, you know - the place with that strange opera house, well it's roasting.  Sydney is now dealing with its sixth consecutive day of a 40 degree plus heatwave.  It's even 36 degrees on the beaches.   The heatwave is being blamed for wildfires and rolling power outages in the suburbs.