'Extreme' summer a sign of things to come

SYDNEY - Climate change was responsible for breaking more than 200 Australian weather records over the past three months, researchers said on Wednesday, a glimpse of conditions to come that will likely threaten energy security and agriculture.

Much of the country's east coast endured its hottest summer on record, the independent Climate Council said, while torrential rain in Western Australia caused flash flooding.

"These are rates of change and temperatures that are so high that the environment can't cope with or adapt fast enough," said Will Steffen, professor of environmental studies, Australian National University and lead author of the Climate Council report, on Wednesday.