Journal article
A historical perspective on Australian temperature extremes
J Gergis, L Ashcroft, P Whetton
Climate Dynamics | SPRINGER | Published : 2020
Abstract
Global temperature increases are most clearly detected in the shifting distribution of extreme events. Australia’s warming climate has resulted in significant changes in the frequency of temperature extremes, with a general increase in heatwaves and a reduction in the number of cold days. Here, we present the longest historical analysis of daily Australian temperature extremes and their societal impacts compiled to date. We use a newly consolidated early instrumental dataset and a range of historical sources for the South Australia region of Adelaide—the nation’s driest state, containing the most heatwave-affected city in Australia—to investigate any changes in the characteristics of daily t..
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Grants
Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
JG and LA were funded by Australian Research Council Project DE130100668. JG acknowledges funding from the ARC Centre for Climate Extremes (CE170100023) and the Australian National University's Futures Scheme-funded project Using historical weather extremes to improve future climate change risk assessment. LA acknowledges support from the Victorian Government's Climate and Water Initiative. We are very grateful to Mac Benoy, Catherine Courtney, Tony Rogers, and the Australian Meteorological Association volunteers for digitising and providing access to the West Terrace temperature observations for the 1856-1920 period. Many thanks to Tim Cowan and two anonymous reviewers whose feedback improved this manuscript. JG and LA greatly appreciate Janet's Rice's permission to publish this study following the untimely death of our coauthor and mentor, Dr. Penny Whetton, during the final stages of this work.