coolmelbourne.org

The CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology have released a State of the Climate document, a snapshot of Australia's climate data and trend predictions.

Written in easy to understand language, the State of the Climate snapshot has been drawn together by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology partly in response to recent attacks on the science underpinning climate change, shows that Australia's mean temperature has increased 0.7 degrees since 1960. The statement also finds average daily maximum temperatures have increased every decade for the past 50 years.

The report states that temperature observations, among others indicators, ''clearly demonstrate climate change is real'', and says that CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology ''will continue to provide observations and research so Australia's responses are underpinned by clear empirical data''.

The report also found that the 2000s were Australia's warmest decade on record; that sea levels rose between 1.5 and three millimetres a year in Australia's south and east, and between seven and 10 millimetres in the north between 1993 and 2009; and that sea surface temperatures have risen 0.4 degrees since 1960.

The release of the report comes as many Australian scientists have expressed angst at current attacks on the science underpinning the argument that global warming is man-made. They fear it is damaging the reputation of science as a whole.


Click here to download the report.