The Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO play an important role in monitoring, analysing and communicating observed changes in Australia’s climate.
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This is our fourth State of the Climate report.
The report focuses on observations and data which show how the climate is changing.
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Since 1910, Australia and the surrounding oceans have warmed by around one degree.
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And whilst not every year will be warmer than the last, the overall warming trend is projected to continue.
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We expect fewer cool days and more hot days.
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Since the 1970s, there has been an increase in extreme fire weather, and the season is longer.
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We expect more fire weather days, especially in southern and eastern Australia.
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Australian rainfall is variable, naturally swinging between very wet and dry.
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However long-term changes in rainfall are occurring.
In the last few decades northern wet season rainfall has been very much above average.
[Rainfall map for October to April 1995-2016 shows above average rainfall for much of Western Australia, but below average in southwest Western Australia. Rainfall is above average in the Northern Territory.Rainfall is average to above average for inland and northern QUeeensland, most of Southe Australia, and inland New South Wales.Rainfall for October to April 1995-2016 is below average for southeast Queenland, southeastern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.]
During the April to October growing season there has been an overall decline in rainfall across southern Australia, especially in the southwest.
[Rainfall map for April to October 1996-2015 shows below average rainfall in southwestern Western Australia; also in Tasmania, Victoria, adjacent South Australia and southern New South Wales. Rainfall is below average in southern Queensland except the tropical north. Drought icons are placed over southwestern Western Australia and southeast Australia.]
Southeast Australia has seen below-average rainfall in sixteen of the past twenty growing seasons.
We expect winter rainfall across parts of southern Australia to decrease, with more time spent in drought.
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The oceans around Australia have warmed and there is an increased level of acidity.
We expect these trends to continue.
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Sea levels have risen globally and around Australia, and are projected to rise further in the future.
[Graph of global mean sea level anomalies, with upward trend.]
For more information, and to understand more about our changing climate, visit our websites.
[Websites are www.bom.gov.au and www.csiro.au ]