Australia bakes: Sydney and Melbourne warned to prepare for 50-degree summer days by 2040
‘One of the hottest years on record globally in 2015 could be an average year by 2025’
Sydney and Melbourne could regularly face 50 degree Celsius days within 25 years even if Australia meets its Paris global warming targets, a new study warned Wednesday.
Other areas across the country should also prepare for extreme heat, said the research led by the Australian National University (ANU) and supported by the Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, an international consortium.
The study assessed the potential magnitude of future extreme temperatures under the 196-nation Paris Agreement, which targets curbing increases in global temperatures to between 1.5 and 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
“Major Australian cities, such as Sydney and Melbourne, may experience unprecedented temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius under 2 degrees of global warming,” said lead author and ANU climate scientist Sophie Lewis, adding it could occur by the 2040s.
“The increase in Australian summer temperatures indicates that other major cities should also be prepared for unprecedented future extreme heat.”
