NZ summer heatwave sets all-time record
New Zealand has sweltered through its hottest summer on record and can expect more of the same if climate change continues unabated, the government's scientific agency said Tuesday.
Daily temperatures averaged 18.8 degrees Celsius, 2.1 degree Celsius more than normal, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said. With the mercury reaching as high as 38.7 degree Celsius in the South Island, NIWA said it was the hottest summer since records began in 1909, surpassing the previous high set in 1934-35.
NIWA's chief forecaster Chris Brandolino said a number of factors were behind the warm weather, including a spike in marine temperatures and warm northerly winds from a La Nina weather pattern. Brandolino added that global warming due to climate change was also a major contributor because it lifted baseline temperatures over the long term.
He said more records were likely to fall in coming years if the factors behind man-made climate change were not addressed.
