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Wednesday 14 December 2016

Wednesday 14: Monsoon trough moves closer to northern Australia

The monsoon trough is steadily moving towards northern Australia, with the current chart showing it stretching from between Indonesia and the north of WA to across western Papua New Guinea. The Bureau of Meteorology, in its Weekly Tropical Climate Note, says other climatic drivers important for Australia at this time of year - the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) - remain weak with little change likely.

Wednesday 14: Nation divided into a hot east and cold, wet west

With the eastern half of Australia experiencing one of the most widespread heatwaves in recent history as a broad northerly stream brings down warm air from the inland, the western half is having storms and much colder conditions pushing in behind a trough and deep inland depression. Yesterday saw maximum temperatures in Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney all in the mid to high 30s, while storms brought heavy rain to WA which brought both joy and woe to farmers.

Last night was Sydney's warmest on record for December and second-warmest in recorded history. The lowest temperature in the 24 hours to 9 this morning was 27.1°, breaking the previous December record of 26.3 set on Christmas Day 1868. Sydney's Observatory Hill weather station has one of the longest continuous histories in Australia with records back to December 1858. Sydney Airport, with a 77-year history, had its all-time warmest night with a minimum of 27.5 knocking 1.1 off the previous record. Down south, Moruya Heads with a nearly 60 year history set a new December record at 21.3 while many of the new AWSs with short 15 to 20 year histories also set new records.

As the trough moved through VIC into NSW today, temperatures were even higher in the northeastern half of NSW. ABC News reported that a big bushfire threatened homes in the Cessnock area of the lower Hunter Valley. Meanwhile, Clare, Snowtown and Renmark in SA all had their coldest December days in AWS history.

Wednesday 14: Strong call for energy policy certainty

Australian energy policy, or lack of it, was in the news today as COAG energy ministers met in Melbourne. A statement signed by an unusually diverse range of groups before the meeting called for improvements to the energy network and policy development to bring certainty for planners and affordability for users. Among the 18 signatories were the ACTU, the Business Council of Australia, industry groups representing steel and cement, the Australian Council of Social Services, the Australian Energy Council, Energy Consumers Australia, the Investor Group on Climate Change, St Vincent de Paul, the Australian Conservation Fondation and the World Wildlife Fund.

Also on the table at the Ministers' meeting will be a report from the Australian Energy Market Commission indicating that the closure in March 2017 of the Hazelwood brown-coal-fired power station in VIC will lead to an Australia-wide increase in wholesale prices of 36%, or $78 a year on each consumer's bill, though this varies greatly from state to state, as shown in this SBS analysis. The report also points out that the $78 figure should be nearly halved once wind power stations come online. The AFR shows the costing breakdown of power from generator to user, while The Conversation has provided a useful "Ten years of backflips over emissions trading leave climate policy in the lurch" which also summarises the current somewhat convoluted situation.

Wednesday 14: Newsbits

Aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Vardah: Floodlist provides an update on the Indian cyclone which indicates over 12 people have perished amid severe damage and social dislocation.

A 19-metre wave: between Great Britain and Iceland has been reported by the World Meteorological Organisation as setting a new record for buoy-measured oceanic waves according to the Guardian.

Half the world’s ecosystems at risk from habitat loss: and Australia is one of the worst write six of Australia's leading academics in this article in The Conversation.

Trump appointees climate skeptic and pro-fossil fuel: The Guardian reports that Donald Trump has picked Rick Perry to head the US Department of Energy and Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency along with Cathy McMorris Rodgers for the Department of the Interior. All are climate skeptics and pro-fossil fuel, with Perry once vowing to scrap the department he has been selected to head.

Saving the data: A mass action is being undertaken by scientists in the United States to make copies of federal climate and environmental data over fears it could be erased under the incoming Trump administration reports ABC News.

Investors best bet for climate solutions: Bank of England Government Mark Carney and American business magnate, politician and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg contend that given the right information, investors will deliver the best climate solutions in the Guardian.