Official Bureau of Meteorology data has shown that last year was Australia’s second-hottest on record going back to 1910 and the warmest for night-time temperatures.
The average temperature across the country in 2024 was 1.46C above the long-term average, calculated from 1961 to 1990, and was second behind the 1.51C record set in 2019.
Night-time temperatures were 1.43C higher than the average, the data showed, easily beating the 1.27C mark set in 1998. For maximum temperatures, 2024 was the fourth-hottest. Climate scientists blamed the continued rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere for driving the bulk of the temperature increases.
“This is becoming routine now,” said Prof Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, deputy director of the Centre of Excellence for 21st century weather at Australian National University.
Undoubtedly climate change has been a major factor because none of the climate mechanisms that gear things up for a hot year – like El Niño or [conditions in the Indian ocean] were really in play.”
The spring of 2024 was the hottest on record at 2C above average, winter was the second-hottest and records tumbled during a blistering August.
Queensland had its hottest year on record and South Australia and Western Australia both had their second-hottest. New South Wales experienced its third-hottest year, Victoria its fifth, Tasmania its joint-fifth and the Northern Territory had its 11th hottest year.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
