PERTH: Australia’s hottest year on record would not have happened without climate change, according to a new report.
The independently-funded group used new modelling to look at the odds of extreme heat events occurring, with and without man-made emissions.
A computer simulation of the atmosphere showed that climate change tripled the odds that the heatwaves of 2012/2013 would occur as frequently as they did and doubled the odds that they would be intense as they were.
More than 123 temperature records were broken over that summer.
Professor Will Steffen said the record temperatures of 2013 were caused by man-made emissions.
“What were the odds of that happening without the human carbon pollution, and what were the odds with human carbon pollution? The answer is quite striking,” he said.
“The answer is that year, 2013, being the hottest year in Australia ever, was virtually impossible without human emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
“That’s conclusive evidence in my view that human driven emissions of greenhouse gases were the primary cause of 2013 being the hottest year on record.
“In other words, it wouldn’t have happened without them.”
The report also looked at heatwaves in Australia and found they were becoming longer, hotter, and occurring more frequently.
Professor Steffen said it highlighted the importance of taking action to reduce emissions.
“If we don’t get on top of this, what you consider an extreme heat event now would be a normal summer by the middle of the century,” he said.
