When a large number of apparently sane people suggest, not only prolonging existing coal-fired power but building more coal-fired power stations, we must consider what is causing the psychosis, writes Dr Graeme McLeay.

Global warming and its resultant climate change is no longer a theory.

It is a stark reality, as even a casual reader must grasp:

• 16 of the warmest years on record this century;
• unprecedented melting of the polar ice caps with the Arctic experiencing heat waves;
• many species, including the infectious sort, occurring out of their normal range;
• sea level rise and coastal erosion;
• an extended bushfire season in both hemispheres;
• droughts in Africa, the Middle East, Northern India and Pakistan; and (dare we mention it, Australia)
• global coral reef bleaching.

And the list goes on. Already the effects on human health and well being are widespread.

The COALition’s coal infection: Is it contagious?