Because of climate change the country now approaches summer tinder dry. In 17 of the past 20 April-to-October periods, southern Australia has had below‑average rainfall. Summer will be the season of asthma and coughing, a time when the Harbour Bridge becomes a spectral shadow and charred koalas fill the television news. Each hot day will be tainted by the fear that global warming is gradually turning parts of the country into a barren, dust bowl. Prime Minister Scott Morrison made a rather lame attempt to dispel the gloom. “Going to be a great summer of cricket and, for our firefighters and fire-impacted communities, I’m sure our boys will give them something to cheer for,” he tweeted after visiting the Gabba in Brisbane. Unfortunately, a Pakistani batting collapse is not going to raise the spirits of the residents of more than 600 houses destroyed already this summer by fire.

Loading Mr Morrison later addressed the question of the link between climate change, the droughts and bushfires. That is a positive change from two weeks ago when he refused even to discuss the issue. It is also welcome that he did not question the overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is happening and that it is making bushfires and drought more common in south-east Australia. Denial is increasingly untenable. Even media mogul Rupert Murdoch, at News Corp’s annual general meeting this week, when asked about his company’s stance on climate change said there were “no climate change deniers round here”. Was he joking? While Mr Morrison’s comments were significant, he still rejected any link between his government’s policies and the current disasters.

"To suggest that with just 1.3 per cent of global emissions that Australia doing something differently, more or less, would have changed the fire outcome this season, I don't think that stands up to any credible scientific evidence at all.” Mr Morrison is right that Australia cannot alone solve the problem of climate change. But that is playing with words. Climate is no different to many other big problems which require collective action and cannot be solved by individuals alone. No one country, for instance, can stop plastic litter from turning the oceans into sludge but if every country reduces its run-off it might make a difference. No one person can prevent Sydney running out of water but if none of us cut our water use, it is much more likely that we will see the mud at the bottom of Warragamba Dam. This moral problem has been studied so widely that it has been given a name: “The tragedy of the commons.”

Loading The answer is not to ignore the problem but to work together. Australia alone cannot end the risk of bushfires but we must still play our part and work with other countries. Australia accounts for less than 2 per cent of emissions but if we and a score of countries of a similar size make an effort they could do as much as China or the US. Perhaps attitudes are starting to change. NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean went to the Council of Australian Governments energy ministers meeting on Friday with a plan to break the logjam of the federal government’s climate policies.

Mr Kean will go it alone, stepping outside national energy market rules that are slowing the transition to renewable energy and battery storage away from coal-fired power. He aims to create a renewable energy zone in the state’s Central West with a generation capacity of 3000MW. It would, of course, be better if the country had a national market but unfortunately the federal government seems determined to obstruct change. Mr Kean’s unilateral action will hopefully inspire others to follow. Meanwhile, the summer of smoke haze and drought has not yet even begun. Surely it must rain soon. Even if it does, Australia must play its part in fighting climate change. The Herald's editor Lisa Davies writes a weekly newsletter exclusively for subscribers. To have it delivered to your inbox, please sign up here