Area five times bigger than Australia walloped by severe heatwave
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here The World Meteorological Organisation's (WMO) State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific report released earlier this week found 2024 was the hottest year on record for the region, up 0.48 degrees on the average for the last three decades. It also found that almost 40 million square kilometres of ocean – an area about five times the size of Australia – were subjected to heatwaves for much of the first half of the year. Most of the South-West Pacific was subjected to intense marine heatwaves last year. (World Meteorological Organisation) "Most of the ocean area of the South-West Pacific region was affected by marine heatwaves of strong, severe or extreme intensity during... particularly the equatorial region of the Maritime Continent and the western Pacific," the report states. "During the months of January, April, May and June 2024, nearly 40,000,000km2 of the region's ocean was impacted by marine heatwaves." Pointing to heatwaves in Western Australia, where temperatures got to within touching distance of 50 degrees last February, and floods across much of the country, as well as severe weather in other nations in the region, the WMO said the changing climate is posing a "serious risk" to public health, lives and livelihoods. "Unprecedented ocean warming, sea level rise, and extreme weather are endangering lives, ecosystems, and economies across the region – especially in coastal and island communities," it said. Lake MacLeod near the WA coastal town of Carnarvon, which last year hit 49.9 degrees. (Peter De Kruijff) "2024 saw record sea-surface temperatures and near-record ocean heat content, with marine heatwaves affecting over 10 per cent of the global ocean. "On land, extreme heat, intense rainfall, and a historic cyclone season caused devastating impacts." Speaking ahead of today's World Oceans Day, Monash University climate expert Associate Professor Shayne McGregor said Australia is particularly vulnerable to changes in the ocean. "Australia is exposed to climate variability that is largely ocean-driven," he said. "These modes of climate variability, like the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, influence our rainfall, heatwaves and fire risk. "Recent ocean changes, which include rising sea levels, increasing occurrence of marine heatwaves and changes to ocean currents, have already had noticeable impacts. "These changes aren't just environmental; they're economic and personal. "They affect water security, food production, insurance costs, and even how we plan our energy infrastructure." Weather
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9 News
10 hours ago
- 9 News
Area five times bigger than Australia walloped by severe heatwave
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here The World Meteorological Organisation's (WMO) State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific report released earlier this week found 2024 was the hottest year on record for the region, up 0.48 degrees on the average for the last three decades. It also found that almost 40 million square kilometres of ocean – an area about five times the size of Australia – were subjected to heatwaves for much of the first half of the year. Most of the South-West Pacific was subjected to intense marine heatwaves last year. (World Meteorological Organisation) "Most of the ocean area of the South-West Pacific region was affected by marine heatwaves of strong, severe or extreme intensity during... particularly the equatorial region of the Maritime Continent and the western Pacific," the report states. "During the months of January, April, May and June 2024, nearly 40,000,000km2 of the region's ocean was impacted by marine heatwaves." Pointing to heatwaves in Western Australia, where temperatures got to within touching distance of 50 degrees last February, and floods across much of the country, as well as severe weather in other nations in the region, the WMO said the changing climate is posing a "serious risk" to public health, lives and livelihoods. "Unprecedented ocean warming, sea level rise, and extreme weather are endangering lives, ecosystems, and economies across the region – especially in coastal and island communities," it said. Lake MacLeod near the WA coastal town of Carnarvon, which last year hit 49.9 degrees. (Peter De Kruijff) "2024 saw record sea-surface temperatures and near-record ocean heat content, with marine heatwaves affecting over 10 per cent of the global ocean. "On land, extreme heat, intense rainfall, and a historic cyclone season caused devastating impacts." Speaking ahead of today's World Oceans Day, Monash University climate expert Associate Professor Shayne McGregor said Australia is particularly vulnerable to changes in the ocean. "Australia is exposed to climate variability that is largely ocean-driven," he said. "These modes of climate variability, like the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, influence our rainfall, heatwaves and fire risk. "Recent ocean changes, which include rising sea levels, increasing occurrence of marine heatwaves and changes to ocean currents, have already had noticeable impacts. "These changes aren't just environmental; they're economic and personal. "They affect water security, food production, insurance costs, and even how we plan our energy infrastructure." Weather national Australia climate change Pacific Weather News World CONTACT US Property News: The last inner Sydney suburbs where houses cost under $2m.
The Advertiser
3 days ago
- The Advertiser
Unprecedented marine heat in the ocean around Australia
Unprecedented heat waves in the Southwest Pacific affected more than 10 per cent of the global ocean surface in 2024, damaging coral reefs and putting the region's last remaining tropical glacier at risk of extinction, the UN's weather body reported. Average 2024 temperatures in the region - which covers Australia and New Zealand as well as southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and the Philippines - were nearly half a degree Celsius higher than the 1991-2020 mean, the World Meteorological Organisation said in an annual report. "Much of the region saw at least severe marine heat wave conditions at some point during the course of 2024, particularly in areas near and south of the equator," said Blair Trewin, one of the report's authors. Extreme heat over the year affected 40 million square kilometres of ocean, and new temperature highs were set in the Philippines and Australia, the report said. Ocean surface temperatures also broke records, while total ocean heat content was the second-highest annual average, behind 2022. An unprecedented number of cyclones, which experts have attributed to climate change, caused havoc in the Philippines in October and November. Sea levels continue to rise more quickly than the global average, an urgent problem in a region where more than half the population live within 500 metres of the coast, the report added. The report also cited satellite data showing that the region's sole tropical glacier, located in Indonesia on the western part of the island of New Guinea, shrank by up to 50 per cent last year. "Unfortunately, if this rate of loss continues, this glacier could be gone by 2026 or shortly thereafter," said Thea Turkington, another of the report's authors. Unprecedented heat waves in the Southwest Pacific affected more than 10 per cent of the global ocean surface in 2024, damaging coral reefs and putting the region's last remaining tropical glacier at risk of extinction, the UN's weather body reported. Average 2024 temperatures in the region - which covers Australia and New Zealand as well as southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and the Philippines - were nearly half a degree Celsius higher than the 1991-2020 mean, the World Meteorological Organisation said in an annual report. "Much of the region saw at least severe marine heat wave conditions at some point during the course of 2024, particularly in areas near and south of the equator," said Blair Trewin, one of the report's authors. Extreme heat over the year affected 40 million square kilometres of ocean, and new temperature highs were set in the Philippines and Australia, the report said. Ocean surface temperatures also broke records, while total ocean heat content was the second-highest annual average, behind 2022. An unprecedented number of cyclones, which experts have attributed to climate change, caused havoc in the Philippines in October and November. Sea levels continue to rise more quickly than the global average, an urgent problem in a region where more than half the population live within 500 metres of the coast, the report added. The report also cited satellite data showing that the region's sole tropical glacier, located in Indonesia on the western part of the island of New Guinea, shrank by up to 50 per cent last year. "Unfortunately, if this rate of loss continues, this glacier could be gone by 2026 or shortly thereafter," said Thea Turkington, another of the report's authors. Unprecedented heat waves in the Southwest Pacific affected more than 10 per cent of the global ocean surface in 2024, damaging coral reefs and putting the region's last remaining tropical glacier at risk of extinction, the UN's weather body reported. Average 2024 temperatures in the region - which covers Australia and New Zealand as well as southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and the Philippines - were nearly half a degree Celsius higher than the 1991-2020 mean, the World Meteorological Organisation said in an annual report. "Much of the region saw at least severe marine heat wave conditions at some point during the course of 2024, particularly in areas near and south of the equator," said Blair Trewin, one of the report's authors. Extreme heat over the year affected 40 million square kilometres of ocean, and new temperature highs were set in the Philippines and Australia, the report said. Ocean surface temperatures also broke records, while total ocean heat content was the second-highest annual average, behind 2022. An unprecedented number of cyclones, which experts have attributed to climate change, caused havoc in the Philippines in October and November. Sea levels continue to rise more quickly than the global average, an urgent problem in a region where more than half the population live within 500 metres of the coast, the report added. The report also cited satellite data showing that the region's sole tropical glacier, located in Indonesia on the western part of the island of New Guinea, shrank by up to 50 per cent last year. "Unfortunately, if this rate of loss continues, this glacier could be gone by 2026 or shortly thereafter," said Thea Turkington, another of the report's authors. Unprecedented heat waves in the Southwest Pacific affected more than 10 per cent of the global ocean surface in 2024, damaging coral reefs and putting the region's last remaining tropical glacier at risk of extinction, the UN's weather body reported. Average 2024 temperatures in the region - which covers Australia and New Zealand as well as southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and the Philippines - were nearly half a degree Celsius higher than the 1991-2020 mean, the World Meteorological Organisation said in an annual report. "Much of the region saw at least severe marine heat wave conditions at some point during the course of 2024, particularly in areas near and south of the equator," said Blair Trewin, one of the report's authors. Extreme heat over the year affected 40 million square kilometres of ocean, and new temperature highs were set in the Philippines and Australia, the report said. Ocean surface temperatures also broke records, while total ocean heat content was the second-highest annual average, behind 2022. An unprecedented number of cyclones, which experts have attributed to climate change, caused havoc in the Philippines in October and November. Sea levels continue to rise more quickly than the global average, an urgent problem in a region where more than half the population live within 500 metres of the coast, the report added. The report also cited satellite data showing that the region's sole tropical glacier, located in Indonesia on the western part of the island of New Guinea, shrank by up to 50 per cent last year. "Unfortunately, if this rate of loss continues, this glacier could be gone by 2026 or shortly thereafter," said Thea Turkington, another of the report's authors.
West Australian
3 days ago
- West Australian
Australia, Pacific rocked by ocean heatwaves last year
Ocean temperatures in the south-west Pacific reached fresh highs last year as heatwaves struck more than 10 per cent of the world's marine waters. Long stints of extreme ocean heat were experienced by nearly 40 million square kilometres of the region in 2024, including the waters surrounding Australia, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has revealed. WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo said ocean heat and acidification were together inflicting long-lasting damage on marine ecosystems and economies "It is increasingly evident that we are fast running out of time to turn the tide," she said. High ocean temperatures have been wreaking havoc on heat-sensitive coral reefs worldwide, with Australian authorities reporting the sixth mass bleaching event at the Great Barrier Reef in less than a decade. Warming on land was also higher than it had ever been last year, with Thursday's report from the United Nations weather and climate agency identifying temperatures roughly 0.48 °C above the 1991–2020 average across the region. Heatwaves were particularly acute in Western Australia, with the coastal town of Carnarvon reaching 49.9°C in February and breaking existing temperature records by more than two degrees. The south-west Pacific assessment aligns with global temperature records being consistently broken as concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reach fresh highs. Last year was the hottest on record and the first to surpass 1.5C warmer than pre-industrial times, the benchmark temperature under the Paris climate agreement. The global pact has not yet been breached as it refers to long-term trends but more warming is expected, with a separate WMO report predicting a 70 per cent chance the average temperature over the next five years will exceed 1.5 degrees. The WMO regional report pre-dated Cyclone Alfred and the devastating flooding events Australia experienced in the first half of 2025 but captured above-average rainfall for the northern states last year. A sea level rise in the Pacific region that exceeds global averages was also recorded, threatening island communities living near the coast. Elsewhere in the region, Indonesia's glacier ice degraded 30-50 per cent compared to 2022. If melting continues at the same rate, the ice is on track to disappear entirely by 2026 or soon after. The Philippines was struck by twice as many cyclones as normal, with 12 storms hitting the country between September and November. Climate patterns also influenced the year's weather events, including El Nino conditions at the start of 2024 in the tropical Pacific ocean that weakened to neutral conditions by the middle of the year. Head of the federal Climate Change Authority Matt Kean said there was still "time to arrest this direction of travel to a hothouse destination" at an event in Sydney on Wednesday. "First, we should ignore the doubters whose main mission seems to be to prolong the life of fossil fuel industries," he said while delivering the Talbot Oration at the Australian Museum.
