Once again well done on your work...just to add
A timeline of major weather and climate extremes in 2023.
Graphic: ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes
The year began with above-average rainfall in northern Australia and progressed to increasingly dry conditions in southern and eastern Australia in late winter and spring, when El Niño was declared.
Against expectations, above average rainfall was observed in December across much of eastern Australia, particularly in Northern Queensland, where residents were impacted by the intense flooding caused by Cyclone Jasper.
“We can easily get the impression that natural climate drivers such as El Niño are the dominant cause of what we observed in 2023, but that’s not true,” Prof. Pitman said.
“El Niño does not guarantee that eastern Australia will be hot and dry, rather it influences the probability of hotter and drier conditions.”
Overall, 2023 was the 8th hottest year on record in Australia, with temperatures 0.98°C above the 1961-1990 average. Winter was the warmest on record since observations began in 1910, and September was the driest ever recorded.
Globally, 2023 marked the hottest year on record and a year of extremes. Canada’s wildfire season in June was unprecedented with 18.4 million hectares burnt, and the heatwaves over Europe contributed to many national and global temperature records tumbling in July. The report provides an overview of some international events that took place in 2023.
“There’s plenty of places around the world where events are becoming hard to survive,” Prof. Pitman said.
