Australia's mean temperature warms almost 1C since 1910

Temperatures across Australia were, on average, almost 1C warmer than they were a century ago, a latest report of Australia's climate change showed Tuesday. The latest State of the Climate 2014 by Australian national science agency CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology is a snapshot of how Australia's climate has changed over the last two years. It is the third report in a series and follows earlier reports in 2010 and 2012. According to its findings, Australia's mean temperature has warmed by 0.9C since 1910. And seven of the 10 warmest years on record in Australia have occurred since 1998. When scientists compared the past 15 years to the period 1951 to 1980, they found that the frequency of very warm months has increased five-fold and the frequency of very cool months has decreased by around a third. "The duration, frequency and intensity of heatwaves have increased across large parts of Australia since 1950," Bureau Chief Executive Dr. Rob Vertessy said in a statement. "Extreme fire weather risk has increased, and the fire season has lengthened across large parts of Australia since the 1970s," Rob added. And CSIRO Chief Executive Dr. Megan Clark also confirmed Australia has warmed in every state and territory and in every season. "Australia has one of the most variable climates in the world. Against this backdrop, across the decades, we're continuing to see increasing temperatures, warmer oceans, changes to when and where rain falls and higher sea levels,"Dr. Clark said Tuesday. In addition, the report found the rainfall and concentrations of greenhouse gases are changed. Rainfall averaged across Australia has slightly increased since 1900, with the largest increases in the northwest since 1970. However, rainfall has declined in the south west since 1970. And concentrations of greenhouse gases in Australia are currently at their highest levels for at least 800,000 years.