US delays G7 climate statement

Nations attending a G7 summit could not release a joint climate statement at the end of a meeting this week because the Trump administration is reviewing its policies.

U.S Energy Secretary, Rick Perry,
 at the Rome G7 Summit.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry attended the G7 energy summit in Rome this weekend. But Italian officials said the U.S. was not able to sign a joint declaration about shared economic goals. 

“The United States is in the process of reviewing many of its policies. This includes a review of policies relating to climate change and the Paris agreement," Italian Industry Minister Carlo Calenda said, Reuters reported Monday. 

Read the article on The Hill - “US delays G7 climate statement.”

Extreme weather a regular visitor in 2016

2016 will be remembered as the year of extreme weather events, if the Bureau of Meteorology’s annual climate statement is anything to go by.

2016 will be remembered by farmers
as a year of extreme events.

Australia experienced its fourth-warmest year on record and overall, annual rainfall was 17 per cent above average, according to the bureau’s climate statement.

For Shepparton, the warmest month on average for the year was February with an average temperature of 31.2°C and the hottest daily temperature recorded, 44°C, fell a month earlier on January 13.

The coldest temperature recorded in Shepparton was 8°C on June 26, which was also the coldest month, with an average temperature of 12.7°C.

Read the Country News story - “Extreme weather a regular visitor in 2016.”

 

Record-breaking extreme weather in Australia in 2016 devastates ecosystems

 Australia’s extreme weather in 2016 was driven
 by humankind’s burning of fossil fuels as
well as a strong El Niño. 

Australia’s weather was extreme in 2016, driven by humankind’s burning of fossil fuels as well as a strong El Niño, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s annual climate statement.

That extreme weather led to devastated ecosystems both on land and in the sea, with unprecedented bushfires in regions that don’t usually burn, the worst coral bleaching on record, and has been attributed as the cause of damage to vast tracts of crucial kelp forests, oyster farms and salmon stocks across southern Australia.

The statement, released on Thursday, said the country as a whole had its fourth-warmest year on record, but locally, Sydney and Darwin broke records for both their hottest maximum temperatures and hottest minimum temperatures.

Hobart had its warmest night on record in 2016 and both Hobart and Brisbane had records for their hottest annual mean temperature fall as well. The hot and dry start to the year sparked bushfires in Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia.

Read Michael Slezak’s story in The Guardian - “Record-breaking extreme weather in Australia in 2016 devastates ecosystems.”

BoM report helps us understand the ferocity of October

A

ustralia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) is a wonderful resource for a comprehensive and clear oversight of what is happening with our country’s weather.

The bureau has just released “Special Climate Statement 52 –Early-season heat across southern Australia” giving a clear picture of the ferocity of October.