Australia Faces Hottest Day on Record as Bushfires Continue

When I was younger, I would have felt sorry for all Australians. Now I am only sorry for those who did not vote for leaders who block action on climate disruption.

https://weather.com/safety/wildfires/news/2019-12-18-australia-hottest-day-on-record-photos

Dec. 18, 2019

Australia endured its hottest day on record Tuesday, and temperatures are expected to climb even higher as the week's heatwave continues in much of the country.

Temperatures across the country reached 105.6 degrees Fahrenheit Tuesday, which beat the previous record of 104.5 Fahrenheit set in 2013, according to The New York Times. Temperatures were clocked at 118 degrees Fahrenheit in Birdsville, Queensland, on Wednesday, NBC News reported.

Preliminary results from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology showed broken records for December heat in 17 South Australia towns Wednesday. Temperatures on Thursday may reach between 8 and 16 degrees higher than normal.

The heat exacerbated an already unprecedented bushfire season, authorities reported. The country has been battling the blazes for weeks.

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https://news.yahoo.com/australia-just-recorded-hottest-day-113941478.html

Australia just recorded its hottest day in history, capping a year of extreme temperatures around the world

Business Insider•December 18, 2019

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2019 has been marked by a series of extreme weather events, including a record-breaking heat wave in France, unusually warm temperatures in Greenland, and an intense hurricane season in the US, which featured the strongest hurricane ever recorded.

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Extreme weather has plagued much of the planet in 2019, with Europe battling a record-breaking heat wave in June and July and the strongest hurricane in recorded history hitting the Caribbean in late August and early September, to name just two.

Some other extreme weather conditions around the world this year include:

Unusually warm temperatures in Greenland — 10 C, or 50 F, warmer than the years before, which have led to ice melting in the country.

Torrential rain and devastating floods in Japan that killed at least 90 people.

A hurricane season in the North Atlantic that saw 18 named storms, including six hurricanes and three major hurricanes — figures said to be above average, according to data from Colorado State University.

That was capped by Hurricane Dorian, which became the strongest hurricane ever recorded before it made landfall in early September.

Record-high temperatures of 45.9 C, or 114.6 F, in France in July.

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