The last of the three coincided with the ignition of a dangerous fire that threatened south-western suburbs and the Holsworthy army base.

According to Ross Bradstock, a fire specialist at the University of Wollongong, the fire danger index at Sydney Airport on Friday and Saturday was 60, or severe. The previous April high had only been 40, or very high, in data going back to the 1950s, he said.

Given the heatwave unfolded during days when Australia's energy future is being widely thrashed out in the media and by politicians, it's surprising that climate change has barely earned a mention.

That included during Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg's mid-week speech to the National Press Club in Canberra to promote his National Energy Guarantee. Debate is likely to continue through this week too, ahead of the meeting of Council of Australian Governments' energy ministers in Melbourne on Friday.

And yet, Frydenberg has largely avoided talking about climate change of late at all, and nor is he asked.

To be sure, determining the precise link between individual extreme weather events and climate change is complex, including this bizarre weather of late.

But attribution studies are advancing and heat events are among the clearest signals of global warming's human hand we have.

And it's not as though there is a paucity of climate change news elsewhere.

Last week, we learned of research showing warmer temperatures are melting snow during summer in some Alaskan mountains at 60 times the rate compared with 150 years ago.

Marine heatwaves are increasing at an accelerated pace, and there is more evidence the Gulf Stream that helps keep northern Europe's climate relatively mild is weakening, losing about 15 per cent since the mid-20th century.

This week, there will likely be more news about the threats facing our coral reefs.

It should not be an outlandish question to ask Tony Abbott and other conservative politicians, when they call for "pensioners over Paris", why our commitment to the 2015 climate agreement signed in France should be shed like a suit of lycra at the first hint of a cost to consumers.

Similarly, any leader calling for the extension of an ailing coal-fired power station (and Australia has more than its share of inefficient clunkers), or the opening of a giant new coal mine or coal seam gas province, should have to explain how that helps get Australia get to net zero emissions by 2050.

That's not just the implied target from Paris, but also the legislated goal of Victoria and even the notional one of Coalition-led NSW.