Researchers have warned WA is the “canary in the coalmine for climate change” in the wake of a new study shining light on the impact of a heatwave that swept across the state in 2011.
The study — a collaboration between international academics led by WA researchers — catalogued the devastation from a heatwave that struck most noticeably in March 2011, on the back of a dry 2010 winter.
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| Murdoch University lecturer and Kings Park Science research scientist Dr Katinka Ruthrof. |
It also coincided with one of the strongest La Niсa weather events on record, which started in the summer of 2010-11 and peaked between February and March 2011.
Researchers put together a database of information on the response of plants and animals to the heatwave across an area about the size of California, spanning from Exmouth down to Cape Leeuwin.
Maximum temperatures in the area studied were 2C higher than the long-term March average while Perth saw weekly maximum temperatures about 5C higher than usual.
Read the WAtoday story by Cameron Myles - “‘Staggering': Full impact of WA heatwave revealed with stark warning on climate.”
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