The mercury reached a record temperature of 50.7°C on Thursday (January 13th) in a remote town in Western Australia, the meteorological office announced.
Such temperatures could become common due to global warming, the Australian Climate Council has warned.
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“New Western Australian heat record and equaled national temperature record!”
, the state Bureau of Weather announced on Twitter. The coastal town of '
Onslow hit an all-time high of 50.7C, a Western Australian record and the hottest temperature on record in Australia for 62 years'
. On January 2, 1960, the country recorded a temperature of 50.7°C at Oodnadatta airport in South Australia, according to the bureau's website.
Climate Council director Martin Rice said the record is part of a long-term trend of global warming driven by the burning of coal, oil and gas.
According to him, these extreme temperatures are already having
“deadly catastrophic consequences”
in Australia.
"
Heat waves are silent killers in Australia, they cause more deaths than any other extreme weather event
," he said.
Read alsoThe climate ignites the Australian elections
Australia experienced an austral summer marked by major forest fires in the west of the country and deadly floods on its east coast.
According to Martin Rice, without a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, these record heats could become common.
"In
Sydney and Melbourne, by 2030 we will have 50 degree summer days
," he said.
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