Australia burns

While in the Northern states of the USA and Europe we suffer ever more freezing weather, down-under in Australia the weather is just as extreme. The states of South Australia and Victoria recorded temperatures above 109F (43C) on Friday.

As the mercury rose, bushfires raged across eastern Victoria, fuelled by bone dry conditions and sweeping winds. The "brutal" weather broke records in the city of Melbourne, which for the first time experienced three consecutive days above 109F (43C). At the hottest part of the day, the city suffered 113F (45.1C). And the temperatures failed to fall at night, with residents attempting to sleep through 100F (38C) 107F heat.

Sweltering temperatures also hit the usually-temperate island of Tasmania, which had its hottest day on record, reaching 107F (42.2C).

The soaring heat took its toll on the elderly and infirm, with police and ambulance crews in Adelaide, where temperatures hit 109F (43.1C), reporting a sharp rise in the number of sudden deaths, with at least 19 people in the city believed to have died as a direct result of the heat wave.

There was chaos in Melbourne, where rising temperatures caused power outages, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of trains. Commuters, described as "cooking in the heat", were stuck on trains and trams for hours. Some benevolent companies offered to let their employees leave early, but in a rare exhibition of presenteeism in January, workers decided to linger in their air-conditioned offices rather than take their chances on the baking streets below. Children were sent home from school and hotels reported a spike in bookings as hot home-owners sought out fully-air-conditioned rooms.

At least 400,000 homes across Victoria remained without power and the state's government is convening to consider limiting electricity use to prevent further blackouts. But there is little respite in sight. Adelaide is preparing for its longest hot spell since 1908, with forecasters tipping temperatures above 107F (38C) for the next seven days.

In the meantime in the UK, snow is coming our way from Russia and a long freeze is forecast. And still some people are saying that there is no global weather change?

Global warming or freezing?

As the world warms and ice-sheets and glaciers begin to melt, most of us worry about how the earth will respond and what kind of impact climate change will have. Will flooding become a regular feature, or is the land going to become parched? Are hurricanes and typhoons going to spring up in places they have never visited before? Is the rising sea level going to swallow some of the world's most fertile farmland, along with millions of homes?

All of these are valid concerns, but now it turns out that the impact of global warming could be worse than we first imagined. Ice sheets are mostly frozen water, but during the freezing process they can also incorporate organisms such as fungi, bacteria and viruses. Some scientists believe that climate change could unleash ancient illnesses as ice sheets drip away and bacteria and viruses defrost. Illnesses we thought we had eradicated, like polio, could reappear, while common viruses like human influenza could have a devastating effect if melting glaciers release a bygone strain to which we have no resistance. What is more, new species unknown to science may re-emerge. And it is not just humans who are at risk: animals, plants and marine creatures could also suffer as ancient microbes thaw out.

Canna 'Uncle Sam', photo by Malcolm McFarland

And what is so frustrating is that none of us can do anything about it. The whole thing is too big for us. I sometimes wonder if enjoying and growing plants and vegetables every year is just a way of turning a blind eye to the problem, and should I not be thinking about it every waking minute. But that is the road to madness. What else, as individuals, can we do? And then I see something like this brilliant photograph above, and it lifts my spirits. I know that it is right to continue doing what we are doing, until we can't do it any more.

In the meantime, here in Worcester, England, we just finished a freezing period, with temperatures dropping to -10 degrees Centigrade (14 degrees Fahrenheit). However, we normally expect that late December and January will be our coldest periods, and they were relatively mild. The lack of a pattern is the most disconcerting part of what is going on.