Enough said!

Today is the hottest New Years Day in Sydney since record keeping began in 1958. It's like an oven out there, with the temperature right now (3.45pm) sitting at 44^oC. Isn't it interesting that three of the six hottest New Years Days have occurred in the last 15 years and two of these have been 2003 and 2006? The trend can be further clarified by remembering that 2004 was the warmest year on record for Sydney with the average annual maximum daytime temperature of 23.4^oC being nearly 2^oC above the historic average. Hey, wait a moment ... what about 2005. Well surprise, surprise, it has been even hotter than 2004 and is now the hottest year on record.
Global warming is now a fact of life. I would be overjoyed if our Government would join the rest of the world (well, ok, a mere 156 countries in September 2005) in not only signing the Kyoto Protocol but ratifying it. The excuse that signing the Protocol would cost the jobs of Australians smacks of little more than a politically savvy excuse to avoid doing the right thing. I'm not sure whether I want to laugh or cry when I read that Mr Howard says Australia is already doing enough to cut emissions.


Related links:
Wikipedia's informative entry on the Kyoto Protocol
Hottest year on record as extreme weather lashes globe
Sydney sizzled under hottest January day for 20 years
Sydney has 4th hottest summer on record
2005 is Earth’s second hottest in 1000 years
Welcome to 2006 - in a blistering 44 degrees

Post script: The temperature at Sydney Airport (~9km from my home) peaked at 45.2^oC today at 15:56, the highest ever recorded for 1st January. The writing's on the wall ... start reading.