Australia records highest temperature in 62 years

This is the highest temperature recorded in Australia in 62 years. On Thursday, Wednesday reached a record high of 50.7°C in the remote town of Onslow on Western Australia’s northwest coast, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

At this time of year, temperatures in this region are traditionally between 30 and 40 degrees Celsius. Become common due to such extreme temperatures Global warming , Warned the Australian Climate Council.

Faced with such a heat wave, Australian authorities advised people not to go out this Friday. “The new heat record in Western Australia and the national temperature record is equivalent! “, The state Bureau of Meteorology announced on Twitter. On January 2, 1960, the country recorded a temperature of 50.7 °C at otnadatta airport in South Australia, according to the bureau’s website.

A long-term trend

Martin Rice, director of the Climate Council, said the record was part of a long-term trend of global warming triggered by the burning of coal, oil and gas. According to him, these extreme temperatures are already ” Deadly catastrophic consequences “In Australia.

“Heat waves are quietly killing in Australia, causing more deaths than any other extreme weather event,” he said. Australia has a southern summer marked by major wildfires in the west of the country and deadly flooding on its east coast.

According to Martin Rice, without reducing greenhouse gas emissions, these record-breaking heats will become commonplace. “In Sydney and Melbourne, we will have 50-degree summer days by 2030,” he estimated.

Source AFP