Flooding in Lismore,northern NSW,early last year.Credit:Getty Images
Other factors accelerating the warming may include changes in the solar cycle,a massive volcanic eruption and a decrease in airborne pollution that may have been “masking” warming.
Between December last year and January this year at least one in five people globally felt a strong climate change influence every day,a second report published on Wednesday has found.
The study by Climate Central,a US-based group of independent climate scientists,found
394 million people were exposed to 30 or more days of risky heat added by climate change,defined as days with temperatures hotter than 90 per cent of local temperatures recorded from 1991 to 2020.
Australians experienced an average 35 risky heat days over the studied period,15 of which were added by climate change.
Of Australian states,Victoria suffered the largest heat anomaly,with average temperatures 1.4 degrees above the 1991-2020 normal.
“Climate change is not a distant threat but a present reality to millions,” said Dr Kristina Dahl,head of Climate Central’s science program. “The increasing frequency and severity of heat events around the world reveal a dangerous pattern of heat exposure that will only worsen if the burning of fossil fuel continues.”
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