In early 2012, “once-a-century” floods in Ireland left large areas of land underwater. In June very high 1. (losses/temperatures) caused wildfires in Russia. Months later, Hurricane Sandy killed hundreds in North America with 2.(losses / forecasts) that cost the country about $150 billion.
Each of these events was dangerous enough on its own. However, in 2013, all of these types of weather events 3.(blamed/occurred) one after another in Australia. In fact, the country has experienced a huge increase in wild weather events in the past few years, including more 4. (Frequent / floating) droughts, tornadoes, and heat waves.
Because there is so much wild weather in Australia, more and more scientists are studying its weather patterns to see if they can help make better weather 5. (forecasts / temperatures).