Mercury reached a record temperature of 50.7 ° C on Thursday (January 13th) in a remote town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the meteorological office said.
Such temperatures could become common due to global warming, the Australian Climate Council has warned.
“New heat record in Western Australia and national temperature record equaled!” “, the state Meteorological Bureau announced on Twitter. The coastal town of“Onslow has reached an unprecedented record: 50.7 ° C, a record for Western Australia and it is the hottest temperature ever recorded in Australia for sixty-two years ”.
On January 2, 1960, the country recorded a temperature of 50.7 ° C at Oodnadatta airport in South Australia, according to the office’s website.
Known for its high temperatures and drought, the mining region of Pilbara in the northwest recorded this record heat on Thursday, as the temperature at this time of year traditionally hovers between 30 ° C and 40 ° C. ° C.
“Heat waves kill silently”
Climate Council Director Martin Rice said the record is part of a long-term trend of global warming induced by burning coal, oil and gas.
According to him, these extreme temperatures already have “Fatal catastrophic consequences” in Australia. “Heat waves are silently killing in Australia, they are causing more deaths than any other extreme weather event”, did he declare.
Australia experienced an austral summer marked by major forest fires in the west of the country and deadly flooding on its east coast.
According to Rice, without a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, these record heats could become common. “In Sydney and Melbourne, by 2030, we will have summer days at 50 degrees”, he estimated.