Former weather bureau chief says agency debilitated by climate deniers' attacks

Rob Vertessy says attacks such as the claim the bureau was ‘fabricating temperature records’ are dangerous and wrong

Misleading attacks on Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology by climate deniers in the Australian are “debilitating” to the agency and limiting its ability to predict risks and protect the community, the former head of the bureau has told the Guardian.

Rob Vertessy, who retired as director of the BoM in April 2016, said climate deniers’ attempts to confuse the public about the science of climate change were dangerous, in an interview for the Guardian’s Planet Oz blog.

Related: Attacks on Bureau of Meteorology pushed by 'fever swamp' of climate denial, former director says | Graham Readfearn