Australia experiencing more extreme fire weather, hotter days as climate changes

More frequent, more prolonged and more
 intensive heatwaves are already being
recorded across Australia as the
climate warms.

Australia is already experiencing an increase in extreme conditions from climate change and more sophisticated modelling is allowing scientists to pinpoint humans' contribution to the wilder weather, the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO said.

The fourth State of the Climate report found Australia's mean surface temperature has risen by about 1 degree since 1910, rainfall patterns are shifting away from the nation's south, and there is a marked increase in heatwaves and extreme fire weather days.

"Climate change is happening now and it's having a tangible impact on Australia," Karl Braganza, manager of the bureau's climate monitoring, said.

The fire season is now extending "by a matter of weeks on average", as warmer conditions arrive sooner and last longer over much of the country, he said.

Read Peter Hannam’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Australia experiencing more extreme fire weather, hotter days as climate changes.”