Australia State of the climate 2022

This seventh biennial State of the Climate report draws on the latest national and international climate research, encompassing observations, analyses and future projections to describe year-to-year variability and longer-term changes in Australia’s climate. The report is a synthesis of the science informing the understanding of Australia’s climate. It includes new information since the last report in 2020, such as that published in the 2021 Sixth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The State of the Climate report is intended to inform a range of economic, environmental and social decision-making by governments, industries and communities.

These are some of the key points presented in this report:

• Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.47 ± 0.24 °C since national records began in 1910.
• Sea surface temperatures have increased by an average of 1.05 °C since 1900. This has led to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events over land and sea.
• There has been a decline of around 15 per cent in April to October rainfall in the southwest of Australia since 1970. Across the same region, May to July rainfall has seen the largest decrease, by around 19 per cent since 1970.
• There has been an increase in extreme fire weather, and a longer fire season, across large parts of the country since the 1950s.
• Snow depth, snow cover and number of snow days have decreased in alpine regions since the late 1950s.
• Oceans around Australia have continued to become more acidic, with changes happening faster in recent decades.