Starting with the Australian climate as detailed by European colonial settlers, Gergis tells a story of how our country’s climate has always been variable and extreme. This style of engaging the reader through firsthand accounts of early Australia is gripping, and even for a weather novice like myself caused me to become invested in reading on for the reveal of a climate no one alive today has lived through.

The second part of Gergis’ book takes one through the first recorded weather history in our country, as the instruments became available and the drive for recording the conditions of a variable climate become apparent. Besides outlining how our weather progressed past the early days of settlement, Gergis gives detailed and concise scientific information on how the weather is recorded and what climatic systems already drive much of the pattern of our weather.

With the SEARCH team research Gergis speculates on what the future of Australia’s weather holds. Scientific evidence makes clear the impact of the human induced industrial revolutions and carbon emissions shaping the Southern Hemisphere’s climate, and what may be done to combat rising temperatures in Australia – although it may be too late to instigate any real solutions.