heatwave | organised castle

I have just checked my blog and realised that it is now 6 days since I last posted. Why? Well, I could tell you about how busy I have been but that is not really true. Life has been ticking along and there has been plenty of activity. On Wednesday I took our 2 granddaughters to see the matinee performance of “Matilda – The Musical”. This was their Christmas gift from us and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Then I spent Thursday and Friday in Sydney on work-related business so there really has not been a huge amount of time for blogging.

However, the real truth is that I have felt so overwhelmed by the recent political events, both domestic and international, that it has been quite difficult to think about writing about the simple things that I do here at home. When you add in a dose of exceptionally hot weather the inertia really takes over.

It is difficult not to despair when the Treasurer of this nation (supported by his colleagues) brings a lump of coal into the parliament and mercilessly mocks those for whom climate change is a real and present threat. This, in a week where much of the country is sweltering through some of the highest temperatures on record and it is set to be even worse in Queensland tomorrow.

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What will it take for these dinosaurs to understand that we are living with climate change here and now and there is a real risk to public health? Yet their answer is to dig up more coal to supposedly generate cheaper power for the air-conditioners which are deemed essential to cope with the environment we have created. Will they ever manage to join the dots and work out that the solution is not digging up more coal?

Here are a few basic statistics from NASA. 15 of the hottest 16 years on record have been since 2001. Climate change, perhaps? Why would our government believe that? A lump of coal is much more fun!

This article should be compulsory reading for all of our politicians.

Here in Australia we have had a long, hot summer. There is no other way of describing it.

I found found some statistics from the Bureau of Meteorolgy. There is no information for April but we all know that the warmer than average trend continued.

December

Second-warmest December mean minimum temperatures on record

Warmest December mean temperatures on record for Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia

Two heatwaves break December records in southeast Australia

Severe bushfire in southern Victoria

December was another very warm month for Australia, the sixth-warmest on record for nationally-averaged mean temperatures. The national mean minimum temperature was the second-warmest on record with an anomaly of +1.24°C, while maximum temperature was the warmest on record for parts of southeast Australia including Victoria (+3.80°C).

January

National mean temperature above average

Maximum and minimum temperatures both above average

January mean temperatures were warmer than average for Australia as a whole (an anomaly of +0.52°C), with all States and the Northern Territory recording warmer than average mean temperatures.

Tasmania recorded its second-warmest January on record.

The Australian mean daily maximum temperature was 0.21

°C above average and the Australian mean daily minimum temperatures was 0.83°C above average

February

Australia’s ninth-warmest February on record

Heat wave in northwestern Queensland results in some daily maximum records broken.

February was a warm month for Australia and the ninth-warmest February on record. The national mean temperature was 0.92°C above the historical average, with the monthly mean maximum temperature 1.43°C above average and the monthly mean minimum temperature 0.41°C above average.

Mean temperatures and mean maxima were above average in all States.

Queensland recorded its fifth-warmest February on record for mean temperatures and equal sixth-warmest for both maximum and minimum temperatures. Tasmania was sixth-warmest for minimum temperatures.

A heat wave in north-western Queensland in the last week of February resulted in a number of records for daily maximum temperatures being broken in this region

March

Mean March temperature for Australia warmest on record.

National mean March minimum temperature warmest on record.

National mean maximum temperature seventh-warmest March on record.

A new record for the warmest March day on record for Australia on the 2nd.

This month was the warmest March on record with a mean temperature anomaly 1.70°C

above the average, exceeding the previous record set in 1986 (+1.67°C). The national mean March minimum temperature anomaly was also the warmest on record at +1.97°C.

The hottest March day recorded in Australia was recorded on the 2nd. On this day, more than one-third of Australia recorded maximum temperatures in the warmest percentile.

During the month warmer than average maximum and minimum temperatures affected much of the country. New South Wales and Victoria experienced record high mean March temperature anomalies (+2.49 °C and +2.42 °C respectively).

Nationally, the mean March maximum temperature was the seventh-warmest on record (+1.42 °C).

How did you cope with the heat? Did you enjoy the ‘endless summer’. Are you looking forward to ever increasing temperatures over the coming years?

Think it won’t happen? Check out this graphic.

Climate change is real and it is here right now. It is time to stop and consider what the future is going to look like. What is life going to be like for our children and grandchildren? We are well on our way to leaving them a legacy of an uninhabitable planet.

Check out this page for more information.

What do you think? How do you feel?

I am interested in your opinion whether you are here in Australia or overseas.