Why is our Climate Broken?

As we approach the end of Perth's second driest year ever and hottest of all time, I'm wondering why? Beyond the long term pattern of increased CO2 in the atmosphere leading to the greenhouse effect and global warming, what are the local reasons that our weather is so extreme this year? Having watched literally hundreds of weather reports presented by Channel Ten's Michael Shultz I feel qualified enough to make an informed comment. Here are theories I've heard this year -

1. Reduced sunspot activity has led to less solar energy hitting the atmosphere and with less energy this leads to weaker weather systems over the oceans that aren't strong enough to push through the high pressure system that can sit over the middle of Australia for weeks at a time.

I can't find the reference in New Scientist magazine to the article that explains this all, but believe me, it's true !

2. Westerlies have moved south by 6 degrees, due to changes in upper atmospheric temperatures http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2010/3065125.htm
This means that the storm systems and cold fronts that used to hit the South of Western Australia now tend to pass too far to the south. This theory is also true.

3. Land clearing - trees generate rain. And the massive clearing in the wheat belt has increased the aridity over the inland significantly. http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20090710-19945.html .

The easternmost part of the Western Australian wheatbelt has less rainfall than the uncleared wilderness country lying immediately to its east, even though there is an overall natural trend of rainfall to decrease from the west to the east. Land clearing has altered the albedo of the ground surface by replacing relatively dark native vegetation with relatively light cereal crops, resulting in less heat absorption by incoming solar radiation and consequently less low-level turbulence as that heat is re-radiated. Low-level turbulence is an integral part of the rainmaking process; a process also affected by the removal the surface roughage (the tree layer) that provides transpired moisture, which also assists in the creation of low-level atmospheric turbulence. (http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=9946)

This theory is definitely true.

4. La nina. I would explain this one further but instead I need to go and make a pizza right now.

5. Back from the pizza for the fifth theory, that our erstwhile Premier Colin Barnett is behind the reduced rainfall. I have long suspected that the Bureau of Meteorology has fraudulently conspired with the State Government in order to hide true rainfall figures. It often rains at my place and yet nothing registers in the official rain gauge. This indicates that the WA government is manufacturing a crisis in order to push ahead with endless desalination plants, thus enriching their private friends. This theory is likely true but as yet unproven. Please add comments if you have evidence.