Warm concerns

Global surface temperature anomalies of the Earth (land and ocean) for 1950–2015. Anomalies are with respect to the 1961–1990 base period. Major tropical volcanic eruptions are associated with cooler global temperatures. El Niño and La Niña events typically develop in winter to spring and decline the following autumn. For strong events, the response in global temperature is greatest in the latter part of an event and thus the year following the start of the event is highlighted. For example, the warming associated with the 1997–98 El Niño led to high mean global temperatures in 1998 (the warmest year for the 20th century). Neutral years are those years with no moderate or strong El Niño or La Niña events occurring. image source: www.bom.gov.au; data from World Meteorological Organization.
27 October 2016

The biennial State of the Climate report from the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology has again confirmed that global temperature increases impact on Australia's weather events.

Australia has experienced its three warmest springs on record between 2013 and 2015, and the general projections suggest more extremely hot days and fewer cool days across the nation.

As a result, there will be more heatwaves and more severe fire weather events, but also more significant wet weather events.

These changes are driven by an increase in global CO2 concentrations, which in 2016 will average more than 400ppm, the highest level in the past two million years.

Key points of the report include:

More information: www.bom.gov.au