espite La Niña bringing the rain and cool change,  Australia endured the fourth-hottest year in history in 2020, raising the alarm for urgent action on climate change.

The year was made up of deadly extremes – from catastrophic bushfires to floods, and one of the wettest Decembers on record.

Throughout it, the maximum and minimum temperatures were above average for all states and the Northern Territory.

With annual average temperatures edging closer to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the nation’s averaged mean temperature for the year was 1.15 degrees above the 1961 to 1990 average.

The trend of human-caused climate change is obvious – eight of the 10 hottest years on record for Australia have now occurred since 2013.

Read the full article on The New Daily website, featuring Prof Nerilie Abram