Climate change lengthens Australian summers by 50% - study

(Reuters, 1 Mar 2020) Report released as Australia counts cost of unusually intense bushfire season that burned nearly 12 million hectares of bushland

SYDNEY, March 2 (Reuters) - Australian summers are now effectively twice as long as its winters as climate change has increased temperatures since the middle of the last century, research released in the wake of the nation's unprecedented fire season showed on Monday.

The report by the Australia Institute, a Canberra-based think tank, compared data from the past two decades with mid-20th century benchmarks of temperatures at the calendar start of seasons in temperate and sub-tropical parts of the country.

Over the last two decades, summer across most of Australia has been on average one month longer than half a century ago, while winter has contracted by an average three weeks.

External link

Reuters, 1 Mar 2020: Climate change lengthens Australian summers by 50% - study