Australia 1.47°C warmer than it was when national records began in 1910, State of the Climate Report reveals

Australia’s biennial State of the Climate Report reveals just how crazy our weather has become – putting us ahead of global trends. See graph.

Australia is 1.47°C hotter today than it was just over 100 years ago, putting it ahead of the global trend of 1.1°C of warming, the biennial State of the Climate report released on Wednesday reveals.

The report, from the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO, revealed Australia as a whole is 1.47°C warmer than it was when national records began in 1910, although there is a margin of error of 0.24°C.

Most of that increase in warming has taken place since 1950, and every decade since the 1950s has been warmer than the one preceding it, the report stated.

Australia’s warming trend was seen across all months of the year, in both day time and night time temperatures, with a marked increase in the number of extremely hot days.

Up, up and away: the State of the Climate Report reveals Australia's warming trend.

In 2019 – Australia’s hottest year – there were 41 extremely warm days, which the report said were “about triple the highest number in any year prior to 2000”.

While the temperature trend for the country has been uniform, with regards to rainfall the results are more mixed.

Rainfall in southwest of Australia has declined since 1970 (with drops of around 15 per cent between April and October) but it has increased in northern Australia since then.

Bureau of Meteorology senior climatologist Dr Lynette Bettio said the April-October period was “really important agriculturally and hydrologically for Australia,” and despite this past year of heavy flooding, the country was “projected to spend more time in drought in future”.

The report has ominous signs for the global climate.

While Australians love to be cynical about weather predictions, Dr Bettio said the Bureau of Meteorology’s weather forecasts were getting “increasingly accurate”, and the level of accuracy increased when very strong climate drivers – like a La Nina and a Negative Indian Ocean Dipole – were operating.

Dr Bettio said one area of concern was in the levels of methane and nitrous oxide present in Australia’s atmosphere.

The concentration of those two greenhouse gases had a “noticeably rapid increase” in the past two years and it was an “active area of research,” Dr Bettio said.

Other sobering results in the report include sea level rise – up 25cm since 1880 – and a very large decrease in the strength of our rivers, with 60 per cent of hydrologic reference stations show a declining trend in streamflow.

Dr. Lynette Bettio from the Bureau of Meteorology. Picture: Chloe Smith

Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek will help launch the report on Wednesday. Picture: Gary Ramage

The country has also seen a decrease in the number of tropical cyclones, while in the alpine regions, snow depth, snow cover and the number of snow days have all declined.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek described the State of the Climate Report as “sobering reading”.

“Australia is experiencing climate change now, with impacts being felt by many communities,

ecosystems and industry sectors,” she said.

“For our environment, for our communities, this report reinforces the urgent need for climate

action.”

Originally published as Australia 1.47°C warmer than it was when national records began in 1910, State of the Climate Report reveals