BOM

Mass bat deaths in record setting Queensland heatwave

Flying Foxes are dropping to earth and dying in their thousands from heat exhaustion. The extreme heat in Queensland from the 29 December to 5 January has taken a massive toll of flying fox colonies, warns a wildlife conservation organisation. It is estimated that perhaps hundreds of thousands of native flying foxes have died as a direct result of the record setting high temperatures in the heatwave event across Queensland and north western NSW.

Last year Australia suffered it's hottest year on record, with scientists claiming that extensive fractional risk attribution modelling of 2013 temperatures that this was clearly caused by human greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

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Scientists comment on 2013 being the hottest year on record for Australia

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) confirmed on 3 January 2014 in the annual climate statement that 2013 was the hottest year on record for Australia. This was all the more concerning considering the neutral ENSO conditions. 2013 also ranks as the sixth-warmest year since global records commenced in 1880, according to the WMO. In the first week of 2014 Australia is again in the grip of heatwave conditions approaching 50C in some towns.

Related: Sea surface temperatures unusually warm around Australia in 2013 | Climate IMC: 2013 was Australia's hottest year, warm for much of the world say Bureau of Meteorology scientists | SMH: Climate change: It's hot - and not just in the kitchens of bickering MPs | Alex White (Guardian): Australia swelters under a sham climate change policy after hottest year on record

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Early start to Australian bushfires, record temperatures

Just a few days after the Federal election NSW experienced a surprisingly early start to the bushfire season with fires on Sydney's outskirts giving us a taste of things to come. Queensland is also facing severe fire danger with the early onset of high temperatures.

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Scientists affirm Australia's climate already changing

In a joint statement released on Monday by the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology the stark facts on global warming were outlined: that Australia's climate has already changed with more extremely hot days, fewer cold ones, wetter in the north and drier in the south-east and south-west. The statement outlined in five sections a snapshot of temperature, rainfall, oceans, atmosphere, and what this means for Australia in coming decades.

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