Last Days of the Anthropocene

Last summer started early in Australia. In November a heatwave struck northern Queensland, pushing temperatures to record heights in many places. In Cairns the temperature reached 42.6 degrees, more than five degrees higher than the previous record for November. Over 12 days fire crews attended more than 1200 fires, including devastating blazes in rainforest areas that had always been regarded as natural firebreaks. In parts of Queensland, fire conditions were designated catastrophic, the first time the rating—which was only created in 2009—had been used in the state.

November’s record temperatures in Queensland were only the beginning. In December and January, heatwaves of unprecedented length and severity blanketed much of the continent, shattering records around the country. January was Australia’s hottest month ever. The three months of summer were also the hottest ever recorded. Average temperatures were more than two degrees above the 1961–90 average, and beat the old record, set in 2012–13, by almost a degree. During the heatwaves in December and January, temperatures reached 47.7 degrees in parts of Adelaide and almost 50 degrees in numerous other locations. In Sydney the train network struggled to cope with the heat, causing delays as tracks threatened to buckle. In South Australia thousands of chickens were killed by the heat and stone fruit cooked on trees. In two days in northern Queensland, 23,000 spectacled flying foxes—or one-third of the entire population—fell from the trees and died from heat exhaustion.