PLEA Network

22 March 2018, ABC News, Complex science behind climate change and extreme weather. As cyclone Marcus ripped through Darwin and fires burned homes to the ground in Victoria and New South Wales, it was just a matter of time until the climate change discussion reared its head. This week the Greens drew a link between the two, with comments made in the Senate and in the media, saying that fires are now more severe and frequent because of climate change. The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull later commented that he was reportedly “disappointed” the Greens would politicise the events. “You can’t attribute any particular event, whether it’s a flood or fire or a drought or a storm — to climate change,” he said while on a visit to Bega, near the bushfire-affected areas. Two people who have protested Mr Turnbull’s remarks are Dr Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick from the University of New South Wales and Dr Andrew King of the University of Melbourne. They are two of Australia’s leading researchers in climate change’s role in extreme events and have spoken to the ABC regarding the field of ‘climate change attribution’.How does climate change attribution work? Read More here