Daytime maximum temperatures also set a record; they were 1. Six of the hottest ten summers on record have occurred this century, and only two occurred before Australia has warmed by nearly a degree Celsius since This is consistent with warming observed in the global atmosphere and oceans.
Over the next century, the world will likely warm by a further 2 to 5 degrees, depending on the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. Under mid-to-high emissions scenarios , summers like this one will likely become average in 40 years time.
By the end of the 21st century, the record summer of will likely sit at the very cooler end of normal. The oceans surrounding Australia have also been exceptionally warm. Sea surface temperatures in February were the hottest ever recorded in the region, while January was the warmest on record for that month. Unsurprisingly, Australian sea-surface temperatures over the entire summer were also the warmest on record. This follows unusually warm ocean temperatures in , and record annual temperatures for Sea surface temperatures are measured very differently to air temperatures over land.
The defining feature of the heat of this summer across Australia has been its extent and consistency. Not many individual places have had their hottest summer on record, but the extent of the heat has been unprecedented.
Nearly two-thirds of the continent had a summer that ranks in the top ten of the last years. Some previous summers have been hotter in particular regions, but none have made the top ten across even half the country.
More often, a summer might be very hot in the south but cooler than normal in the tropics like or hot in the east but cool in the west like , or, going back much further, In the summer just gone, every mainland state had temperatures at least a degree above normal. During this period, records were broken in large numbers. Fourteen of the sites used by the Bureau for long-term monitoring had their hottest day on record during this heatwave, more than has occurred in any other summer.
Sydney The highest temperature during the heatwave was But perhaps the most exceptional temperatures of the event occurred in the interior of Western Australia. This is a region which normally misses out on the most extreme high temperatures because of its elevation — higher areas generally stay cooler.
Leonora, metres above sea level, reached January may have seen the most extreme heat, but December and February were also significantly hotter than usual. Apart from the heat, the summer of will be remembered for rain and floods along the east coast, especially those which fell in late January as the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Oswald tracked south just inland from the coasts of Queensland and northern New South Wales, bringing heavy rains along the length of its track.
A second round of heavy rain occurred in southeast Queensland and coastal New South Wales in the last week of February. Further south, over millimetres fell in one day at Upper Springbrook, in the Gold Coast hinterland, and Mount Castle.
Overall rainfall in the Brisbane catchments was very similar to that during the floods. A crucial difference, though, between the two years was that the weeks leading into the floods were fairly dry, and more of the rain soaked into the ground than was the case in , when the rain fell on ground which was already saturated.
In late February the heaviest rains were in northern New South Wales. There was more than millimetres recorded in a day in places, causing flooding on numerous rivers, especially the Hastings and Macleay. This is a region which is no stranger to extreme rainfalls — in daily totals in the s or above occurred on five separate occasions — and no significant records were broken at long-term stations. The rains along the east coast were locally destructive and devastating for communities affected.
However, in a national context they brought above-average summer totals to only a fairly small area — southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales. Even Sydney was only slightly wetter than normal. Away from the east coast, it was a dry summer except for parts of Western Australia , and in many places it was a very dry one.
Across much of South Australia, the Northern Territory, western Victoria, and inland areas of New South Wales and Queensland, summer rainfall was near or below half normal levels. Last year, there were official heat waves across India, up from 21 in During that period, more than 5, people died. This year's figures show little respite. In June, Delhi hit temperatures of 48 degrees Celsius Fahrenheit , the highest ever recorded in that month. West of the capital, Churu in Rajasthan nearly broke the country's heat record with a high of India's poorest state, Bihar, closed all schools, colleges and coaching centers for five days after severe heat killed more than people.
The closures were accompanied by warnings to stay indoors during the hottest part of the day, an unrealistic order for millions of people who needed to work outdoors to earn money. And forecasters believe it's only going to get worse. Arctic ice faces trouble from above and below India's situation is not unique.
Many places around the world have endured heat waves so far this year, including parts of Spain , China , Nepal and Zimbabwe. To examine the question of future survivability of heat waves in South Asia, MIT researchers looked at two scenarios presented by the IPCC: The first is that global average surface temperatures will rise by 4. The second is the more optimistic prediction of an average increase of 2. Both exceed the Paris Agreement target to keep the global average temperature rise by to below 2 degrees Celsius.
Under the more optimistic prediction, researchers found that no parts of South Asia would exceed the limits of survivability by the year However, it was a different story under the hotter scenario, which assumes global emissions continue on their current path. An Indian man uses a towel to wipe the sweat on his face on a hot and humid summer day in Hyderabad, India, on June 3, In that case, researchers found that the limits of survivability would be exceeded in a few locations in India's Chota Nagpur Plateau, in the northeast of the country, and Bangladesh.
And they would come close to being exceeded in most of South Asia, including the fertile Ganges River valley, India's northeast and eastern coast, northern Sri Lanka, and the Indus Valley of Pakistan. Survivability was based on what is called "wet bulb temperature" -- a combined metric of humidity and the outside temperature.
A few hours of exposure to these wet bulb conditions leads to death, even for the fittest of humans. The places in India where it could become more difficult to survive overlap with already highly vulnerable areas, said Eun Soon, assistant professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, who also took part in the MIT study. That is, places with dense populations and poor economies that rely heavily on fishing and agriculture.
They include cities like Patna and Lucknow in northeastern India, home to more than 4 million people combined. What is the government doing about it? India is still in the initial stages of developing a robust nationwide Heat Action Plan. The Indian Meteorological Department IMD is working with state health departments to create an early warning system that would notify millions of people by text message about ways to stay cool, when heat waves hit.
The city of Ahmedabad, in Gujarat, introduced the country's first action plan in , and its text messages, extra drinking stations and advice to keep out of the sun are credited with saving more than 2, lives. At the same time, India is seeking long-term solutions. See how Europe is dealing with an extreme heatwave Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration announced plans to add gigawatts of renewable energy to the country's power grid by The country is also planting forests to help mop up carbon emissions.
Climate Action Tracker , a site that analyzes countries' progress, says India is making good headway but could do more by reducing its reliance on coal power stations.
A report by India's Central Electricity Authority released this week found that coal power could still account for half of India's power generation in , despite the country's investments in solar power.
0コメント