A document on the Australian Department of the Environment's website once explained the dangers of extreme weather, with a special warning that climate change might intensify the situation. Now, that warning has been removed — likely to reflect Prime Minister Tony Abbott's views.


Above, Australian bushfires seen from space.

Reports Oliver Millman in the Guardian:

A previous version of the document opened with the statement: "There is a growing and robust body of evidence that climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. "Australia has experienced an increasing number and intensity of heatwaves, bushfires, flooding and droughts in recent decades." An amendment to the page removes these lines in favour of a general explanation of what extreme weather is. The page goes on to acknowledge that the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is "changing" and that "some studies" show a link to climate change, but stresses that it is "difficult to isolate the role of climate change in any given event".


Prime Minister Abbott has argued that rising temperatures and climate change are not responsible for the rise in intense Australian bushfires over the past 30 years.

Read more at the Guardian