Australia temperatures rising faster than rest of the world

Australia is facing a rise in temperature of potentially more than five degrees Celsius by the end of the century, an increase that would outpace global warming worldwide, the country’s national science agency said on Tuesday. In its most comprehensive analysis yet of the impact of climate change, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) painted a worst-case scenario of a rise of up to 5.1 degrees celsius by 2090 if there are no actions taken to cut greenhouse emissions.

There is a very high confidence that hot days will become more frequent and hotter. We also have very high confidence that sea levels will rise, oceans will become more acidic, and snow depths will decline.

CSIRO principal research scientist Kevin Hennessy

The dire warning from the government-funded agency is at odds with the official line from Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who in 2009 declared the science of climate change was “crap”. The new research by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, using some 40 global climate models, has Australia warming at a greater rate than the rest of the world. The report said the annual average temperature in Australia would likely be up to 1.3 degrees celsius warmer in 2030 than the average experienced between 1986 and 2005. By 2090, it could be 5.1 degrees celsius hotter — but that’s dependent on how deeply, if at all, greenhouse gas emissions are cut.

Asia-Pacific