Depending where you live, July might have seemed like a chillier month than normal in Australia. It saw strong snowfalls in Victoria and NSW, even in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, and as far north as Queensland.
According to the Bureau of Meterology, temperatures for the southeast mainland were cooler than average. But the weather in NSW and Victoria – and parts of south east Queensland – were the exception to the rule.
Nationally, maximum temperatures were almost half a degree warmer than average in Australia, and rainfall was down nationally about 35 per cent.
That’s inline with the explosive news released by the USA’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration earlier today – the world just experienced the hottest month since they started keeping records 136-years ago.
The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for July 2015 was 16.6 degrees celsius– that’s almost a full degree (0.81) above the 20th century average, and slightly higher than the previous record set in July 1998.
More broadly, scientists predict that it is “very likely” 2015 will knock off 2014 as the hottest year ever recorded on earth.
Professor Will Steffen from the Climate Council noted that 9 out of the 10 hottest months recorded since records began in 1880 have occurred since 2005.
“The scientific basis for urgent action to tackle climate change has never been stronger,” Professor Steffen said.
“The escalating risks associated with a rapidly warming climate underscore that Australia’s emission reduction targets are not enough. Australia must make its fair contribution to the worldwide effort to bring climate change under control, and protect Australians from worsening extreme weather events.”
Professor Steffen noted that the formation of a “powerful El Nino that could break records increases the likelihood of another angry Australian summer”.
Donate To New Matilda
New Matilda is a small, independent media outlet. We survive through reader contributions, and never losing a lawsuit. If you got something from this article, giving something back helps us to continue speaking truth to power. Every little bit counts.
