Australia has recorded its warmest autumn on record, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
The average temperature for the past three months was 1.86 degrees above average, beating the previous warmest autumn in 2005.
Autumn’s hottest day was 47 degrees Celsius at Mardie in Western Australia on March 3.
The coldest day was -2.5C at Thredbo in New South Wales on May 27.
About half the country experienced its warmest autumn ever, New South Wales, Victoria and the Northern Territory.
Minimum and maximum temperatures were also above average for most areas around the country.
On nearly every day in April, temperatures were above average in Sydney, Darwin, Canberra and Brisbane.
Climatologist Felicity Gamble said there were a number of a contributors to the record-breaking weather.
“We had much warmer than average sea surface temperatures surrounding our coastline, we had El Nino active for most of that time,” she said…
“All of that comes on top of the long-term trend showing increasing temperatures across Australia and globally that’s been observed over recent decades.”
The bureau said a prolonged March heatwave impacted many parts of Australia.
Southern Western Australia was the only part of the country where autumn temperatures were average or below average over autumn.
Time to act: Climate Council
The Climate Council’s chief executive, Amanda McKenzie, said increasing temperatures were having negative effects on ecosystems.
“Particularly over this autumn we saw the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef and that was because there was sustained above-average temperatures,” she said.
“It has also been a problem in Tasmania, we have seen salmon farms, abalone farming, oyster farming all affected by the above-average autumn temperature.
“If you think about cool temperature crops like wines and grapes, many of the vineyards are thinking about should we be moving to Tasmania rather than Victoria, for instance, so that there is a cooler temperature to grow our crops.”
Ms McKenzie added that Australia’s record breaking autumn should serve as a wake-up call.
“It only underlines how important it is to act now to prevent the problem getting worse in the future,” she said.
ABC
