Australia swelters in `hottest decade`

Australia has sweltered through its hottest decade on record - and the federal
government says that's proof that global warming is real.
The Bureau of Meteorology has crunched the numbers for 2009 and found it was the
second-warmest year in the past century.
Heatwaves hit in summer and in winter, dust storms wreaked havoc, and there were
drought and floods to boot as 2009 rewrote the weather record books.
The decade 2000-2009 was the hottest on record, and since the 1940s each decade has
been hotter than the last.
This is all "consistent with global warming", the bureau concluded in its annual
climate statement, issued on Tuesday.
Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett said the report showed Opposition Leader
Tony Abbott was wrong on climate change.
Last month, Mr Abbott told Macquarie Radio that "the world's warming has stopped".
Mr Garrett called on Mr Abbott to "fess up" that he was wrong.
He said the report showed the importance of passing the government's emissions
trading scheme (ETS) through parliament next month.
The scheme has been voted down twice and the opposition has vowed to vote no again
in February.
"Today, our own weather bureau tells us that, in fact, the world's warming is
increasing and, clearly, we need to do something about it now," Mr Garrett said.
In response to the bureau's report, Mr Abbott appeared to back away from his
statement that the world was not warming.
"My argument isn't with the meteorologists," he said in a statement.
But the weather report card didn't soften Mr Abbott's opposition to the ETS.
"My argument is against the government's great big new tax. If we are going to
tackle climate change, let's take direct action," Mr Abbott said.
The bureau's climate statement found that 2009 was 0.9 degrees Celsius warmer than
average.
The second half of the year was especially warm, with an unusual winter heatwave
hitting in August. It was Australia's hottest August on record.
Victoria had its hottest day on record - 48.4 degrees Celsius - and Melbourne had
its hottest-ever day of 46.4. Tasmania rewrote the record books with a 42.2 degree
day.
The rainfall total was average for Australia last year although it tended to come
down all at once, leaving other areas in drought.
There were floods in the northern tropics, in the country's east in May, and in
Tasmania in the latter part of the year.
Drought continued in the country's southwest and southeast.