- Bureau of Meteorology said 2017 was Australia’s third warmest year on record
- Queensland and New South Wales experienced their warmest years in history
- Both day and night-time temperatures warmer than average across the country
- Australia saw extremes in 2017 experts say are ‘associated with climate change’
Australia had its third hottest year on record in 2017, with Queensland and New South Wales experiencing their warmest in history.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the trend of warmer than average temperatures across the country continued last year.
‘Despite the lack of an El Nino – which is normally associated with our hottest years – 2017 was still characterised by very warm temperatures,’ head of climate monitoring Dr Karl Braganza said.
Australia had its third hottest year on record in 2017. Bondi Beach is pictured last weekend
Queensland and New South Wales experienced their warmest years in history in 2017
Australia saw extremes in 2017 experts say are ‘positively associated with climate change’
The national mean temperature of 22.76C – or 0.95C above the long-term average – was the third highest since records began in 1910.
Both day and night-time temperatures were warmer than average, with the maximum for the year the second highest on record.
Prolonged high sea surface temperatures led to the first instance of back-to-back years of mass coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef.
Dr Braganza said dry and cloud-free conditions across much of southeast Australia during June and July led to warm, sunny days and very chilly nights.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the trend of warmer than average temperatures across the country continued last year
Beachgoers are pictured cooling off in Melbourne during a sweltering heat wave last week
After a wet start to 2017, the middle of the year was notably dry.
June was the second-driest on record nationally and September the driest for the Murray-Darling Basin, Dr Braganza noted.
He said there has been a gradual decline of about 10-20 per cent in rainfall during the cooler months of the year.
Both day and night-time temperatures were warmer than average last year, with the maximum for the year the second highest on record
Experts say 2017 is likely to have been among the three warmest years on record globally
Seven of Australia’s 10 warmest years have occurred since 2005.
Dr Braganza said 2017 is likely to have been among the three warmest years on record globally.
‘Australia has been looking at an increased frequency of heatwaves and other extremes that have been positively associated with climate change,’ he said.