January was Australia’s hottest month ever: gov’t 0 SHARES Share it! Share TweetBy Agence France-PresseAustralia suffered its hottest month ever in January, when widespread heatwaves exacerbated an already devastating drought, fuelled bushfires and contributed to mass fish deaths, officials reported Friday. The hottest temperatures during the month were experienced in South Australia, where the mercury hit 49.5 degrees C on Jan 24. Authorities said the January heatwave contributed to the deaths of more than a million fish in the Murray-Darling river system, the country’s largest running through five states in the east of the country. Meanwhile, bushfires — which are frequent summer occurrences in Australia’s arid southeast — spread far into the tropical northeast of the country in January.

Source: Manila Bulletin February 01, 2019 07:51 UTC