THE TOP 15 hottest places in the world today are all in Australia as a severe heatwave continues to roast the southeast of the continent.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said the past four days were among the country’s top 10 warmest on record, with temperatures nearing 50 degrees Celsius in some parts.
Fruit growers are suffering severe losses as produce is cooking on branches, ABC reports. Forecasters are warning of more record-breaking temperatures before the weekend.
Authorities in several states have issued health warnings urging people to take care of themselves, their relatives, neighbours and pets as heatwave impacts can build over several days.
Melbourne and Sydney have been spared the worst of the heat so far, with inland suburbs being significantly warmer.
However high humidity is forecast to make for uncomfortable nights on Friday and Saturday in the larger cities on the east coast. High ozone air pollution is also expected in Sydney in coming days.
The warmest 15 places on the planet in the past 24 hours were all in Australia, according to the El Dorado Weather site.
The top spot was claimed by Tarcoola in South Australia, which reached 49.1 degrees, while Yulara in the Northern Territory came in 15th at 46.1 degrees.
Fish kill
Yesterday the New South Wales state government announced plans to mechanically pump oxygen into lakes and rivers after hundreds of thousands of fish have died in heatwave conditions.
Up to a million dead fish were found floating last week in the Darling River in the west of the state and the state government announced that 1,800 more rotting fish had since been found in Lake Hume in the state’s south.
Minister for Regional Water Niall Blair said 16 battery-powered aerators had been bought and would be placed in various drought-affected waterways after they are delivered today.
“They are a Band-Aid solution; we admit that,” Blair told reporters.
“Nothing will stop this fish kill unless we get proper river flows and water levels in our dams back up to normal. We are doing everything we can to try and limit the damage,” he added.
Experts blame heatwave conditions across much of Australia, drought and algal blooms for starving waterways of oxygen.
Australian National University water expert Daniel Connell said many more fish would likely die with heatwave conditions forecast to continue until the weekend.
“It’s a very predictable crisis,” Connell said.
Connell said taking water from the system to irrigate had likely contributed to the poor water quality in rivers as well as the drought which is impacting most of New South Wales.
“By massively reducing the amount of water in the system, you produce much hotter water, you produce conditions that are much more conducive to algal blooms,” he said.
With reporting by AP
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say