“Extreme weather events” is the new global warming
mantra. Scientists feel it is the best short-term evidence that the planetary
climate is settling into a new equilibrium, the cue for countries to start
taking action. By a coincidence this year has been full of them, from
unprecedented heatwaves in Europe, to floods in Japan.
The Japanese case is striking because it takes something
extraordinary, given its preparedness, to cause hundreds of deaths at one
stroke. Early July saw the