So that was summer?

I promise this is the last post for a while harping on climate change! But the past week has been so unusual, weather-wise, that I had to comment.

Officially it's still summer here in Australia. Actually, it's tyically the hottest time of the entire year. Not this year.

This year we saw a cold weather vortex zoom in over the entire south eastern quadrant of the continent and just sit there for more than a week now. It's more than 1,000 km wide and brought record low temperatures, record rainfall (Melbourne's highest rainfall in a single day since records began -- massive flooding), windstorms (a series of small tornadoes hit Sydney, wreaking serious havoc), and our ski resorts -- normally catering only to high country hikers at this time of year) are packed to the rafters with skiers taking advantage of summer snow!

It's been cold and wet and windy ever since this "thing" arrived.

Now there's talk on science programs here that the entire western ice shelf of Antarctica is at risk of slipping off the continent into the surrounding Southern Ocean. Apparently the melting water running under the ice has reached such a deluge that the permanent ice cover is disintegrating from beneath.

Current best estimate of the effect on sea levels, globally, is a rise of around 7 metres. That's almost 23 feet. (Imagine what a 23 feet rise in water level would do to most coastal cities around the world.)

But that takes no account of other effects, such as the impact on water salinity and temperatures of the oceans, and the warm currents that make most of the northern hemisphere habitable.

We live in interesting times.