Australia Heats up With Eighth-Warmest Year on Record

Australia’s average temperature rose by almost 1 degrees Celcius in 2023, matching a global pattern of extreme weather and the earth’s hottest year on record. The national mean temperature came in 0.98 degrees Celcius warmer than the 1961-1990 average to mark the nation’s eighth-warmest year on record, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Both the mean annual maximum and minimum temperatures were above average for all states and the Northern Territory, the bureau said in its annual climate summary published on Jan. 5. Despite starting the year under the La Nina climate pattern, unseasonably widespread warmth in the latter months bumped up mean national temperatures....