Heat waves, drought gripping southern Australia, consistent with global warming
January 29th, 2009A record-setting heatwave is scorching southern Australia, causing transport chaos by buckling rail lines, leaving more than 10,000 homes without power, and killing trees in city parks.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a total of six days of 40-plus Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) temperatures for southern Australia, which would equal the hottest heatwave in 100 years.
Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says the heatwave is the sort of weather scientists have been warning about:
Eleven of the hottest years in history have been in the last 12, and we also note, particularly in the southern part of Australia, we’re seeing less rainfall. All of this is consistent with climate change, and all of this is consistent with what scientists told us would happen.”
Australia’s enduring drought eased up a bit in 2008 as above-average rainfall in southern parts of South Australia, much of Victoria, parts of Tasmania and New South Wales, and southern parts of the Northern Territory gave some relief. But large parts of the nation – including a large patch in western Queensland, the area around Melbourne, and the area around Hobart – are still struggling with some of the lowest rainfall totals since records began in 1900. The drought-stricken area’s farmers are being devastated by water scarcity and soaring costs.
The Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology has great maps on its website showing the drought-afflicted areas. The map below shows rainfall deficient areas over a three-year period.
UPDATE: A new government report says climate change is combining with Australia’s record-breaking drought to strangle the nation’s largest river system, threatening to devastate Australia’s food supplies. Water flow is near historic lows in the Murray Darling system which provides water to Australia’s “food bowl”, a vast expanse of land almost twice as big as France that runs down the continent’s east coast. Water storages aree at just 16% of capacity – less than one-third of the January average – with a recent once-in-a-century heat wave slowing some areas to a trickle.