<
https://theconversation.com/where-did-southern-australias-record-breaking-heatwave-come-from-274417>
"Millions of people in southeastern Australia are sweating through a
record-breaking heatwave. The heat this week is likely to be one for the
history books. The heat began on Saturday January 24th. On Australia Day, three
sites in South Australia and two in New South Wales broke their all-time
temperature records. Ceduna reached a whopping 49.5°C in the shade – just 1.2°C
off the highest temperature ever recorded in Australia.
Today, temperatures have topped 49°C in northwest Victoria and South Australia
for the first time on record, and many towns face days of heat over 40°C.
Regions such as the Otway Ranges in Victoria are facing extreme fire danger.
Renmark in South Australia has reached 49.3°C and Walpeup in Victoria has
reached 48.7°C.
This is shaping up as the worst heatwave since the Black Summer of 2019-20. The
intense heat that summer contributed to catastrophic bushfires which burnt 21%
of the continent’s forests, an area still considered globally unprecedented.
Independent analysis found the last heatwave between January 5 to 10 was made
over five times more likely by global heating. This current heatwave is
substantially worse, but we’ll have to wait for attribution studies to
understand how much global heating has contributed to its overall severity.
The sustained heat hitting the southeast will be widespread and prolonged. It’s
likely more all-time temperature records will be broken this week, as the body
of hot air stagnates over the south and southeast. People in exposed areas
should heed warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology and advice from health and
emergency response authorities."
Via Muse.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
