Australia is burning

Summer has only begun in Australia and already the continent is scorched. The Murray-Darling river system, which provides three-quarters of the water consumed in the country, is flowing at barely half the previous record minimum. Sydney's largest reservoir is only 40% full. Half the country's farmland is suffering drought.

Scientists are predicting it's only going to get worse. Australia's leading scientific body -- the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation -- predicts rainfall in parts of eastern Australia could drop by 40% by 2070 while temperatures rise 7C.

Yet Australia continues to be the world's worst per-capita producer of greenhouse gases while its prime minister refuses to sign on to Kyoto. As our minister of the environment, Rona Ambrose, has kindly assured us, we are not alone in our environmental folly. Some company, however, I would rather not keep.