We are, truly, the canary in the coalmine

Some have suggested that Australia, particularly south-eastern Australia, is like the “canary in the coalmine” with regard to climate change.

That view has been reinforced by a story in National Geographic headed:  “Is Australia the Face of Climate Change to Come?”

The “kicker” headline further confirms that view in that is says: “Extreme weather Down Under may foreshadow events on a global scale”.

The National Geographic story discusses all the floods, wildfires, tornadoes and hitherto unseen snow storms, downpours and other extreme weather events from around the world, and then suggests they are becoming commonplace in Australia.

“Each of these one-off traumas was bad enough, wreaking havoc, but in Australia such events seem to be becoming commonplace.

“The Lucky Country has experienced a major spike in extreme weather in the past few years, with a string of devastating incidents just since January,” the story says.