Australia records its 8th warmest year as climate change lifts temperatures

CANBERRA: Australia experienced its eighth-warmest year in 2023, with the influence of climate change pushing average temperatures almost 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1961-1990 average, the weather bureau said on Thursday.

Last year’s extreme weather swings took Australia from widespread flooding and the coolest January since 2002 through the hottest southern hemisphere winter and early spring and driest three months on record to end with heavy rainfall as summer got underway.

Floods, cyclones and wildfires cost several lives, and the mid-year heat and lack of rainfall roiled the country’s huge agricultural industry, pushing down wheat yields, crashing livestock prices and boosting meat exports.

Forecasters warn that climate change will make Australia hotter and increase the severity of weather extremes.“Climate change continues to influence Australia’s climate,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.