Australia’s record heatwave continues to spread across the land. It is sparking hundreds of bush fires across Australia and has forced the country’s meteorologists to redraw their national temperature scales – upwards.
In an unprecedented move, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) has extended the temperature range on its charts from the previous cap of 50 degrees Centigrade (122 degrees Fahrenheit), to 54 degrees C (more than 129 degrees Fahrenheit).
At the same time, the ABM has added two entirely new colours to its interactive Australian weather/temperature charts: deep purple and pink. These new colours are to show the new extreme range of temperature. A patch of purple, indicating 50+, is now visible on one of the temperature charts for next week.
This is thought to be the first time that any country in the world has actually redrawn its charts to take account of temperatures which are thought likely to go off the scale which had been previously applied, and climate scientists indicated it was a warning for the future.
In an unprecedented move, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) has extended the temperature range on its charts from the previous cap of 50 degrees Centigrade (122 degrees Fahrenheit), to 54 degrees C (more than 129 degrees Fahrenheit).
At the same time, the ABM has added two entirely new colours to its interactive Australian weather/temperature charts: deep purple and pink. These new colours are to show the new extreme range of temperature. A patch of purple, indicating 50+, is now visible on one of the temperature charts for next week.
This is thought to be the first time that any country in the world has actually redrawn its charts to take account of temperatures which are thought likely to go off the scale which had been previously applied, and climate scientists indicated it was a warning for the future.