“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