![\"20170109-bom-map-tmean-decile-2016\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170109-BOM-map-tmean-decile-2016.gif?resize=680%2C467\")
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This article by John Englart was first published<\/a> at Climate Action Moreland<\/em>.<\/p>\n The official reports are in. 2016 was the hottest year on record according to the European Copernicus Climate Change Service<\/a> (C3S). In Australia the Bureau of Meteorology declared 2016 the 4th warmest on record, but with record sea surface temperatures around the continent.<\/p>\n According to Copernicus:<\/p>\n In Paris at COP21 in December 2015 countries agreed to limit warming to well below 2C of warming above pre-industrial level and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C, in recognition this would reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n But in 2016 we reached 1.3C above pre-industrial temperatures. We are almost at the lower end of the Paris target and there is enormous inertia in the climate system requiring us to transition to zero carbon as rapidly as possible.<\/p>\n We know from extensive climate science research that global warming increases extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, floods and the intensity of storms. As well as personally felt impacts through weather disasters, it will have a long term impact on population health, availability of fresh water, crop yields and food security.<\/p>\n Director of ECMWF\u2019s Copernicus Services Juan Garc\u00e9s de Marcilla said:<\/p>\n \u201cWe are already seeing around the globe the impacts of a changing climate. Land and sea temperatures are rising along with sea-levels, while the world\u2019s sea-ice extent, glacier volume and snow cover are decreasing; rainfall patterns are changing and climate-related extremes such as heatwaves, floods and droughts are increasing in frequency and intensity for many regions. The future impact of climate change will depend on the effort we make now, in part achieved by better sharing of climate knowledge and information.”<\/p>\n To assist decision-makers, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) have made all their data freely available so that government, private sector and citizens can identify opportunities for climate action.<\/p>\n For Australia 2016 was the 4th warmest on record, with a national mean temperature 0.87 \u00b0C above the 1961\u20131990 average. Rainfall across Australia was some 17 percent above average. In particular, March and autumn were the warmest on record for Australian mean temperature, while Ocean sea surface temperatures (SST) were the warmest on record for the Australian region, with an annual mean sea surface temperature 0.73 \u00b0C above average.<\/p>\n\n
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<\/p>\n![\"20170109-copernicus_graphics_press-release_en-1-600w\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170109-Copernicus_graphics_press-release_EN-1-600w.jpg?resize=600%2C427\")
<\/p>\nHot Australia on land and sea<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\n![\"20170109-bom-sst-aus-trend-graphed-600w\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/20170109-BOM-SST-Aus-trend-graphed-600w.jpg?resize=600%2C427\")
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