Why is the weather going mad? Humanity’s ongoing stupidity, that’s why

The hurricanes of the past few weeks that have devastated the Carribean and parts of the United States have been record-setters. The human cost is huge, and our first thoughts must be to the victims and their families.

Storm debris in the Wellington region, New Zealand, after an unprecedented 2013 event.

Unfortunately it’s the likely shape of where things are going, worldwide. New Zealand’s been unusually warm and wet all year – wet to the point where the district where I live has had over 1000 landslips through the urban areas. Part of that is on the back of the 2013 and 2016 earthquakes, which opened up cracks – but the endless rain was still the trigger.

There’s no doubt what’s going on. We’ve been pouring carbon dioxide and other carbon products into the atmosphere, in ever-increasing quantities, for the past 250 years or more. What’s more, while the long-term…