Sydney is in the process of smashing the record for the longest run of days above 26°C. Weather, El Nino and climate change are all playing their part.
Extreme weather will affect people and animals, as well as whole ecosystems. Research using satellites shows that ecosystems worldwide are vulnerable to collapse.
Six years after Black Saturday, it’s worth remembering that heatwaves kill more people than bushfires do, so shade can be a life-saver. But tree cover and shade are not evenly distributed in cities.
Australia is the land of drought of flooding rains, driven by events such as El Nino. But despite this variability, some parts of Australia are clearly drying out.
El Niño dominated global climate in 2015, but in Australia the story was more complicated. 2015 was Australia’s fifth warmest year on record, and saw the return of very dry conditions to parts of Australia.
This has been Australia’s hottest October on record. And the record-breaking temperatures are at least six times more likely thanks to human-induced global warming.
The link between El Niño and heatwaves is complicated. But what we can say is that this summer’s strong El Niño conditions are likely to bring more heatwaves to much of Australia’s north and east.
Melbourne, Canberra and much of southern Australia have shivered through a cold winter. But on a longer view, record cold snaps are disappearing, while Australian heat records continue to be broken.
Tackling climate change is the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century, a team of 60 international experts today declared in a special report for the medical journal The Lancet.