Australia endures hottest year on record in
2013
Published on Jan 03, 2014
11:01 AM
A view of Sydney Harbour is seen under a thin layer of smoke due to sporadic minor bushfire and back burning on Nov 8,
2013. Australia experienced its hottest year on record in 2013, the Bureau of Meteorology said on Friday, enduring the
longest heatwave ever recorded Down Under as well as destructive bushfires. -- FILE PHOTO: AFP
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia experienced its hottest year on record in 2013, the Bureau of Meteorology
said on Friday, enduring the longest heatwave ever recorded Down Under as well as destructive bushfires.
"2013 was Australia's warmest year since records began in 1910," the bureau said in its annual climate
statement.
"Mean temperatures across Australia have generally been well above average since September 2012. Long
periods of warmer-than-average days have been common, with a distinct lack of cold weather."
The bureau said that Australia's 2012-2013 summer was the warmest on record, and included a prolonged
national heatwave which ended on January 19, 2013 - the first day since 31 December, 2012 that it did not
reach 45 deg C somewhere in the nation.
Spring was also the warmest on record and winter the third warmest, meaning that overall, the annual
national mean temperature was 1.20 deg C above average.
The bureau pointed to destructive fires in the island state of Tasmania in early 2013, then later in the year,
a record warm and dry winter and an early spring that culminated in "the most destructive fires in the
Sydney region since at least 1968".
The weather authority, which last year introduced new colours on its temperature scale to cater for more
extreme highs, said the Australian warming was very similar to that seen on the global scale.
"And the past year emphasises that the warming trend continues," it said.
Professor Roger Jones, a lead author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Working Group
II Fifth Assessment Report to be released later this year, said the findings should concern all Australians.
"While the increases in average temperatures may seem to be benign - heat waves are increasing faster
than those averages," said Prof Jones, a research fellow at Victoria University in Melbourne.
"Why heat waves are longer and hotter than anticipated is not yet clear, but they are contributing to greater
fire danger and heat stress than projected by climate impact studies, affecting animals, plants and humans."
University of Melbourne climate scientist David Karoly said the record high average temperature was
remarkable because it did not occur in an "El Nino" year, when conditions in Australia are usually drier
and warmer.
He said that in climate modelling experiments, it was not possible to reach such a temperature record due
to natural climate variations alone.
"Hence, this record could not occur due to natural variability alone and is only possible due to the
combination of greenhouse climate change and natural variability on Australian average temperature," he
said.
Prof Ian Lowe, emeritus professor of science, technology and society at Queensland's Griffith University
and president of the Australian Conservation Foundation, said the report confirmed expectations.
"2013 was the hottest year on record for Australia, showing that there is no rational basis for the claim that
warming has slowed in recent years," he said.
Heavy snow, dangerous cold snarl travel in
north-eastern US
Published on Jan 03, 2014
12:13 PM
A man walks along a snow covered Cass Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, on Jan 2, 2014. The first major winter storm of 2014
bore down on the north-eastern United States on Thursday with heavy snow, Arctic temperatures and strong winds just as
many people were returning from holiday breaks. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW YORK/BOSTON (REUTERS) - The governors of New York and New Jersey declared a state of
emergency and pleaded with residents to stay indoors on Thursday as a major snowstorm bore down on the
north-eastern United States, delaying or cancelling thousands of flights.
The first major winter storm of 2014 brought bone-chilling temperatures and high winds from the lower
Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic coast, with parts of New England, including Boston, bracing for up to 36
cm of snow by Friday morning.
"As this winter storm unfolds, bringing heavy snow and high winds to many parts of the state, I strongly
urge all New Yorkers to exercise caution, avoid travel and stay indoors," New York Governor Andrew
Cuomo said.
Amid flight cancellations that hit just as many travellers were returning from holiday breaks, officials at
Boston's Logan International Airport said that up to a quarter of its scheduled flights had been cancelled on
Thursday afternoon and evening.
But Mr Ed Freni, aviation director of Massport, the state agency that operates Logan, said that two
runways remained open and that he expected the airport to continue operating as long as it was safe to do
so.
Mr Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie both ordered state offices closed on Friday for nonessential employees, saying they expected the worst to hit between late Thursday and early Friday morning.
The state of New Jersey said public schools would be closed in Hoboken and Jersey City on Friday.
"We'll have heavy snow, windy conditions, reduced visibilities," said meteorologist Kim Buttrick from the
National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts.
The storm posed the first major challenge to New York's new mayor Bill de Blasio. Problems from digging
out from snowstorms have been political havoc for mayors in the United States' biggest city for decades.
After his first emergency management meeting, Mr De Blasio pleaded with New Yorkers stay off the
streets.
"This is the first of many times I will say please stay indoors. Stay out of your cars. If you don't need to go
out, please don't go out," he said.
The powerful storm forced cancellation of nearly 2,500 US flights with another 7,000 delayed. Chicago's
O'Hare International and Newark's Liberty International Airport were hit the worst, according to
FlightAware, a website that tracks air travel.
New York's three major airports were preparing to accommodate stranded travelers whose flights were
canceled.
"We have a few hundred cots at each of the airports should you decide to become an overnight guest," said
Mr Thomas Bosco, an official with the Port Authority of New York and Jersey, at New York's LaGuardia
Airport.
The authority also runs Newark and John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Mr Ruben Raskin of San Jose, California, who was in the Boston area visiting his girlfriend, worried that
his Friday flight out of Logan could be delayed or cancelled.
"It kind of reminds me why I moved to San Jose after going to college out here," said Mr Raskin, 23.
Conditions in Boston were bad enough by afternoon that the "Frozen Fenway" winter carnival, featuring
sledding and college ice-hockey at the baseball stadium where the Red Sox play, was cancelled for
Thursday and Friday.
The weather service said the mass of Arctic air would drop temperatures to levels 20 to 30 degrees below
normal, with record lows possible on Friday.
"Temperatures are expected to plummet ,,, with wind chills dropping as low as 25 degrees below zero
Fahrenheit (-32 Celsius)," said Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. "That is a very dangerous set of
circumstances."
Forecast snowfall varied widely, with Washington expected to see under an inch (2 cm), Philadelphia and
New York 4 to 8 inches (10-20 cm), Hartford 6 to 10 inches (15-25 cm) and Boston 8 to 14 inches (20-36
cm).
But even before the worst of the storm hit, slippery road conditions made driving a hazard in many stormhit areas.
In Cleveland, Ohio, Mr Chris Behm spent an hour trying to reach the vocational training center for
developmentally disabled people where he works before calling the commute off and urging his 19
employees to stay home.
"It was terrible on all of the roads and there is more weather on its way," Mr Behm said. "It just wasn't
worth it to open and possibly kill someone."
Officials in Boston and Providence said schools would be closed on Friday, and in other districts
throughout the region, parents were bracing for the possibility their children would be home on Friday.
"It's tough with these storms because I end up using days off that I don't want to take," said Ms Kristen
Carson, who had taken the train into Manhattan from her home in suburban Montclair, New Jersey. "After
the holiday, it's really kind of a pinch."
Britain sees new flooding after storms and
high tides
Published on Jan 04, 2014
2:43 AM
LONDON (AFP) - High tides and strong winds caused flooding in Britain on Friday, and authorities
warned sightseers seeking to witness the huge waves that they were putting their lives at risk.
Severe flood warnings - indicating there is "danger to life" - were declared for the southwest English
counties of Gloucestershire and Dorset, and for Wales.
The Northern Irish capital Belfast avoided the serious flooding that residents had feared after a tidal surge
failed to breach flood defences.
Walls of sandbanks were built in the densely-packed residential area of Sydenham in the east of the city
and on land around the docks on the opposite side of the shore.
In the southwest English counties, coastal towns in Cornwall and Devon experienced some flooding but
officials said it was not as bad as they had feared.
As high waves crashed against coastal areas, authorities and emergency services warned that people
heading to the coast to see the dramatic conditions were dicing with death.
Police were called to move on dozens of sightseers who gathered at Burry Port in south Wales to see the
sea whipped up by 112 kilometre per hour winds at high tide.
"What they cannot know is what is in these waves. The sea takes up a lot of rock, rubble and stones and
throws them violently about," Carmarthenshire County Council spokesman Ron Cant said. "Stones
weighing up to 50 kilogrammes were being flung into the car park and people were literally putting their
lives at risk by being there."
Air, sea and land searches were launched for 18-year-old Harry Martin who has not been seen since
leaving his home to take pictures of the weather near Plymouth in Devon on Thursday. He was last seen
heading towards a coastal path.
The government's emergencies committee Cobra met on Friday to discuss the weather situation.
Britain has been lashed by rain, high winds and high tides for two weeks.
Flood alerts were also issued in northwest France, which is being battered by high winds and huge waves.
Deadly freeze hits northern US
Published on Jan 04, 2014
6:46 AM
People walk in the snow through Central Park on Jan 3, 2014 in New York, the morning after the first major winter storm of
2014. A fierce winter storm brought chaos to the northern United States (US) on Friday, killing at least 11 people and
forcing the cancelation of thousands of flights. -- PHOTO: AFP
NEW YORK (AFP) - A fierce winter storm brought chaos to the northern United States (US) on Friday,
killing at least 11 people and forcing the cancelation of thousands of flights.
More than 61cm of snow fell in parts of Massachusetts town as a state of emergency was declared in New
York and New Jersey states.
One worker was killed when a 31m pile of salt being prepared to treat roads in the Philadelphia region fell
on him, media reports said.
A 71-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimers disease froze to death after walking out into the cold and
getting lost in northern New York state, authorities said.
At least nine other deaths were blamed on the storm - named Hercules - that caused traffic accidents and
other disruption across 22 states and parts of Canada.
Hercules closed major roads for several hours with snowdrifts built up by Arctic winds of up to 105kmh.
Weather experts said the windchill temperature would plummet to -25 degrees Celsius in New York state.
More than 4,200 international and domestic flights were cancelled at airports along the east coat and as far
as Chicago on Thursday night and Friday. Thousands more were delayed.
New York's John F. Kennedy Airport closed for several hours because of poor visibility and high winds.
Flights were also cancelled at Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and other key airports.
Boston woke up to a temperature of about -16 degrees Celsius but with the wind chill, it felt much worse.
Essex county in Massachusetts recorded 61cm of snow.
Much of the state's Atlantic coastline was put on flood alert.
The New York and New Jersey governors ordered major roads closed during the worst of the blizzard, but
they were reopened on Friday morning.
Government leaders still appealed for people to stay home unless they had urgent business.
The storm was the first big test for New York City's new Mayor Bill de Blasio, who only took up his job
on Wednesday.
Mr De Blasio had vowed a "laser focus" on the storm. But the mayor also urged residents to stay indoors
and warned against going out in the freezing temperatures.
Mr De Blasio shovelled snow from in front of his Brooklyn house on Friday before repeating appeals for
drivers to stay off the streets to help the city clear its 9,900km of roads.
"If you want safe, clear streets, stay home," he said.
Tourists lobbed snowballs at each other in Times Square and more than 15cm of snow fell on Central Park.
But 450 salt spreaders were out across the city and 1,700 refuse trucks had been fitted with plows in a bid
to keep New York moving. The city set up a special website and app, PlowNYC, so residents could follow
street clearances in real time.
Many metro trains were cancelled or delayed however and schools and many businesses remained closed
in all the affected states.
And sub-freezing temperatures are expected as far south as Florida, the National Weather Service said.
Officials backed Mr de Blasio's warning about going out in the cold as night fell again and temperatures
plummeted.
Experts said that winds of 48kph could cause frostbite in about 30 minutes.