Aussie climate ‘on steroids’ – expert

AUSTRALIA can expect more record heat over the next decade as a result of a “climate on steroids”, the climate commission warns.

Speaking at the release of a new report by the commission, climate scientist Will Steffen says Australians are likely to experience even hotter temperatures over the next 10 years.

“There is little doubt that these events will continue to become worse; the hottest temperature will become hotter, of longer duration and more frequent,” says Professor Steffen, who authored the report.

“This is virtually certain because of the extra heat that is in the atmosphere . . . we have a climate on steroids.”

The report Angry Summer argues the extreme weather of 2012-13 was climate change in action and more unusual events are on the way.

It notes that last summer 123 records were broken throughout Australia in 90 days, and that it was the nation’s hottest summer, capped by the longest and most extreme heatwave on record.

Professor Steffen says the findings of the new report into last summer’s extreme weather events show climate change is real.

“I think what this is telling us is that climate change is not some hypothetical thing that will occur in the future – the climate has actually changed,” he told Sydney journalists today (Monday, March 4).

While it’s difficult to predict whether next summer will see more records broken, he says over the next two decades there’ll be some “really frightening” temperatures in store for the country.