Even before the weekend heatwave and the unseasonable Sydney bushfires in mid-April, the Bureau of Meteorology's climate experts had clearly seen enough.
The bureau broke with tradition at the end of last week and released a Special Climate Statement, before the remarkable autumn heatwave of 2018 had fully subsided.
With more records since, an update is likely within days. Notable numbers include Australia beat its previous hottest April day by more than 0.6 degrees, with the whole country averaging just a tad under 35 degrees on April 9.
During the event, Victoria broke its April record for heat and set its 10 hottest April day-time temperatures at various sites.
For NSW, it was six out of the top 10 hottest April days, including the state's first two readings in April above 40 degrees.
Sydney not only had its hottest April day with 35.4 degrees on April 9, but backed it up with a trio of days above 30 degrees. The last of the three coincided with the ignition of a dangerous fire that threatened south-western suburbs and the Holsworthy army base.
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| Record heat has seared much of southern Australia since the start of April. Photo: Nick Moir |
That included during Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg's mid-week speech to the National Press Club in Canberra to promote his National Energy Guarantee. Debate is likely to continue through this week too, ahead of the meeting of Council of Australian Governments' energy ministers in Melbourne on Friday.
And yet, Frydenberg has largely avoided talking about climate change of late at all, and nor is he asked.
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| Wind whips up the dust over a dry farm in the Deniliquin region - a region that baked again on Wednesday. Photo: Nick Moir |
But attribution studies are advancing and heat events are among the clearest signals of global warming's human hand we have.
And it's not as though there is a paucity of climate change news elsewhere.
Last week, we learned of research showing warmer temperatures are melting snow during summer in some Alaskan mountains at 60 times the rate compared with 150 years ago.
Marine heatwaves are increasing at an accelerated pace, and there is more evidence the Gulf Stream that helps keep northern Europe's climate relatively mild is weakening, losing about 15 per cent since the mid-20th century.
This week, there will likely be more news about the threats facing our coral reefs.
It should not be an outlandish question to ask Tony Abbott and other conservative politicians, when they call for "pensioners over Paris", why our commitment to the 2015 climate agreement signed in France should be shed like a suit of lycra at the first hint of a cost to consumers.
Similarly, any leader calling for the extension of an ailing coal-fired power station (and Australia has more than its share of inefficient clunkers), or the opening of a giant new coal mine or coal seam gas province, should have to explain how that helps get Australia get to net zero emissions by 2050.
That's not just the implied target from Paris, but also the legislated goal of Victoria and even the notional one of Coalition-led NSW.
Links
- Special Climate Statement 65—persistent summer-like heat sets many April records
- 'Concerning': Marine heatwaves increasing, especially near Australia
- 'Unprecedented' marine heatwave triggered huge carbon-dioxide release
- The oceans’ circulation hasn’t been this sluggish in 1,000 years. That’s bad news.
- Sydney weather: City simmers in hottest trio of March days since 1902
- 'Really extreme' global weather event leaves scientists aghast
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