Australia’s warmest April on record (for mean maximum temperature) has just been confirmed, with multiple records broken across the nation, according to the latest Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) data. The BOM Australia in April 2018 summary also shows that the mean monthly temperature was the second hottest for April, climbing 2.38°C above average, with daytime temperatures reaching exceptionally high levels in each state. Alongside this record breaking heat, Australia also experienced below average rainfall with last month going down as the driest April in almost a decade.
Climate Councillor and international climate scientist Professor Will Steffen said the abnormal April records highlight the impact climate change is having across the country, driving more severe and more frequent heatwave events that are lasting longer than ever before. “April 2018 alone has broken a series of climate records and follows off the back of an already extreme summer plagued by extreme heat, heavy rainfall, bushfires and tropical cyclones,” he said. “April 9 was also named as the hottest Australian April day on record, with a national average temperature of 34.97 °C.”
Professor Steffen said the window of opportunity for Australia to tackle climate change is rapidly closing, as extreme weather events driven by climate change continue across the nation. “Australia must urgently slash its rising greenhouse gas pollution levels through continuing the transition to clean, affordable and reliable renewable energy and storage technology,” he said. “Unfortunately our Federal Government is lagging behind, with its proposed National Energy Guarantee (NEG) threatening to slam the brakes on Australia’s renewables and storage boom, while failing to tackle climate change through woefully inadequate emissions targets,” he said.
“When it comes to tackling climate change, Australia cannot sit on its hands while we suffer through increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather such as the record breaking temperatures in April. Many of the solutions we need to tackle climate change are already here and they are economically competitive. We’ve got to get over the political and ideological roadblocks that are stopping effective action on climate change.”
