Australian climate gets hotter and hotter

Australian climate gets hotter and hotter

There are very few countries you could compare with the heat and humidity of Australia but the situation seems to be worsening with signs that the climate is changing. A report by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology seems to confirm the concerns of many experts who have been predicting a significant increase in the temperature of the world.

Indeed, while global warming has been dismissed by many experts the figures from Australia seem to suggest there is something behind the theory that the earth is heating up.

Record temperatures across Australia

One of the issues which people will mention time and time again, is when does a change in climate become a change in trend? Experts will tell you that extreme weather conditions, on either side of traditional weather ranges, are conducive with a potential change in the overall weather going forward. This would appear to be the case with regards to Australia where we have seen some extreme weather conditions over the last 12 months.

To give you an example of what is happening across Australia figures show that Alice Springs experienced 40°C weather for 17 days constant and while this sounds very uncomfortable, compare this to Birdsville where the situation continued for 31 days. These are not isolated instances of weather change as there are numerous other areas of Australia which have experienced record daily temperatures.

Australian summers

As of earlier this week, the summer of 2012/13 is now the hottest summer in Australia since records began in 1910. The very fact that the temperatures from September 2012 to February 2013, the traditional Australian summer, were all warmer days than the previous highs from the 2006/7 certainly reflects concerns on the ground.

Quote from AustraliaForum.com : “Ok I understand the El Niña cycle and all, but seriously!! It was all warm, sunny and fuzzy today. And by midday like from nowhere started raining…I know it is still warm enough to walk around in singlet and shorts but I signed up for endless summer with hot sun and uninterrupted beach season.”

This is a phenomenal shift in weather patterns which was further strengthened by the fact that the average summer temperature in 2012/13 was a disturbing 1.4°C above the normal and 1.1°C above the period between 1961 and 1990. Those who refute allegations of global warming will no doubt refer back to history which shows that the earth has gone through cyclical periods of excessive heat and cooling down. However, the situation today in Australia seems to be very different.

Hotter for longer and more often

As we touched on above, there is very strong evidence to suggest that the temperature in Australia is hotter than previous years and more concerning is the fact that these hot days are more often than ever before. We all saw the news over the last few months which showed frightening bushfires which took wildlife, human life and property across Australia. We all saw the terrible scenes of devastation left behind by fires which swept across areas of Australia the size of small countries.

Scientists have been warning of increased summer temperatures across Australia for many years now although a number of those are showing concern were ridiculed in public and their reputation’s shattered. The fact is that recent data released by the authorities of Australia seems to confirm growing fears of a shift change in the Australian climate.