AUSTRALIA SET ANOTHER record for its hottest day ever for a second straight day, with an average national temperature of 41.9 degrees Celsius, a full degree higher than the previous mark, officials said today.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the new nationally averaged maximum was reached Wednesday, topping the 40.9 degrees hit on Tuesday, which beat the previous record of 40.3 C in January 2013.
As the heatwave continued, today also saw the highest December temperature ever reached in Australia when the West Australian town of Eucla hit 49.8 degrees Celsius.
The previous hottest day in December was 49.5 degrees celsius in Birdsville, Queensland, in 1972.
The heatwave has exacerbated an unprecedented, drought-fueled series of bushfires ravaging large areas of Australia.
Deaths and homes destroyed
Hundreds of bushfires have been raging across Australia for months, including a “mega-blaze” burning north of Sydney, the country’s biggest city.
Smoke from the fires has engulfed Sydney, raising air pollution to hazardous levels in an event leading doctors have labelled a “public health emergency”.
At least three million hectares (7.4 million acres) of land has been torched across Australia, with six people killed and about 700 homes destroyed.
Scientists say the blazes have come earlier and with more intensity than usual due to global warming and a prolonged drought that has left the land tinder dry and many towns running out of water.
The fires have sparked climate protests targeting the conservative government, which has resisted pressure to address the root causes of global warming in order to protect the country’s lucrative coal export industry.
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