Parts of south-east Australia have been experiencing extreme heat over recent days. Temperatures hit 43.5C at Sydney airport on Saturday. This was the highest temperature recorded at this station since records began in 1929, and is about 15C above the December average. Authorities have issued several bushfire warnings and banned fires across many parts of New South Wales.
Temperatures will ease early this week across south and south-east Australia, but will intensify across northern, western and central parts as the week progresses. Here, temperatures could rise widely into the 40Cs by the weekend.
The record temperatures come as the Cop28 summit enters its final phase in the United Arab Emirates, and after the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that 2023 was on course to be the hottest in recorded history. In fact, according to climate scientists, this year could be the warmest in more than 100,000 years, based on historical data collected from ice cores and tree rings.
The announcement followed what was the hottest November ever recorded globally. The month also contained two days that were 2C warmer than pre-industrial temperatures. The global average temperature in 2023 stands at 1.46C, close to the crucial 1.5C global warming threshold considered critical to avoid causing the most dangerous and irreversible impacts from climate change. The 2015 Paris agreement commits countries to limiting temperature rises to “well below” 2C.
Finally, severe storms and tornadoes caused extensive damage and a number of fatalities across parts of the southern US state of Tennessee on Saturday. At least six people have been reported dead in Montgomery County and Nashville. The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings ahead of the storms. More than 80,000 people were left without power, with damage to homes in the city of Clarksville. Power lines, houses and many trees were also damaged in the town of Dresden. It is normally too cold and dry across this part of the US for severe storms during the month of December.
