As of December 2022, the highest recorded temperature in Australia was at Onslow Airport in Western Australia, where the temperature was 50.7 degrees Celsius.

What is causing increasing temperatures?

The annual mean temperature deviation in the country has increased over the past century. In 2020, the annual national mean temperature was 1.15 degrees Celsius above average. Climate experts agree that the major climate driver responsible for the heat experienced in Australia was a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). This is where sea surface temperatures are cooler in the eastern half of the Indian Ocean than the western half. The discrepancy in temperatures led to drier, warmer conditions across Australia. Global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions has been linked to the warming of sea surface temperatures and the IOD.

Social change

While the topic of global warming is undoubtedly controversial, many people perceived global warming as influencing Australia’s climate. In 2019, over 40 percent of young Australians believed climate change was the most pressing issue affecting their generation. This was a stark increase from the previous year. The majority of Australians agreed that their government should be taking some form of action on climate change. It seems that recent climate events have triggered a call for action by many Australians.

This statistic displays the average minimum and maximum temperatures in Australia in 2015. According to the source, in Queensland, the hottest temperature was 30.94 degrees on average in 2015.

In 2024, the mean temperature deviation in Australia was 1.46 degrees Celsius higher than the reference value for that year, indicating a positive anomaly. Over the course of the last century, mean temperature anomaly measurements in Australia have exhibited an overall increasing trend. Temperature trending upwards Global land temperature anomalies have been fluctuating since the start of their measurement but show an overall upward tendency. Australian mean temperatures have followed this trend and continued to rise as well. Considered the driest inhabited continent on earth, this has severe consequences for the country. In particular, the south of Australia is predicted to become susceptible to drought, which could lead to an increase in bushfires as well. The highest temperatures recorded in Australia as of 2022 were measured in South Australia and Western Australia, both exceeding 50 degrees. The 2019/2020 bushfire season Already prone to wildfires due to its dry climate, the change in temperature has made Australia even more vulnerable to an increase in bushfires. One of the worst wildfires in Australia, and on a global level as well, happened during the 2019/2020 bushfire season. The combination of the hottest days and the lowest annual mean rainfall in 20 years resulted in a destruction of 12.5 million acres. New South Wales was the region with the largest area burned by bushfires in that year, a major part of which was conservation land.

We must understand the natural cycles of the oceans to understand the evolution of our climate through geological time. Core MD 032607 was obtained in 2003 off the coast of Sumatra (36.9606 S, 137.4065 E). By investigating the properties and components of this core we are able to reveal some information regarding past oceanographic and climatic systems. Information obtained or inferred from the core include the isotopic composition of oxygen and carbon through time, an age vs. depth profile of the core (revealing sedimentation rates), the relative abundance of planktonic foraminifera over time, and estimates of historical sea-surface temperatures.

In 2022, the observed annual average mean temperature in Australia reached 21.96 degrees Celsius. Overall, the annual average temperature had increased compared to the temperature reported for 1901. Impact of climate change The rising temperatures in Australia are a prime example of global climate change. As a dry country, peak temperatures and drought pose significant environmental threats to Australia, leading to water shortages and an increase in bushfires. Western and South Australia reported the highest temperatures measured in the country, with record high temperatures of over 50°C in 2022. Australia’s emission sources While Australia has pledged its commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, it still relies economically on a few high greenhouse gas emitting sectors, such as the mining and energy sectors. Australia’s current leading source of greenhouse gas emissions is the generation of electricity, and black coal is still a dominant source for its total energy production. One of the future challenges of the country will thus be to find a balance between economic security and the mitigation of environmental impact.

Three datasets containing climate data, compiled in April 2011, have been purchased from the Bureau of Meteorology. These datasets include observations from stations in all Australian States and Territories. Each dataset includes a file which gives details of the stations where observations were made and a file describing the data. AWS Hourly Data contains hourly records of precipitation, air temperature, wet bulb temperature, dew point temperature, relative humidity, vapour pressure, saturated vapour pressure, wind speed, wind direction, maximum wind gust, mean sea level pressure, station level pressure. Each record for each parameter is also flagged to indicate the quality of the value.Synoptic Data contains records of air temperature, dew point temperature, wet bulb temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, mean sea level pressure, station level pressure, QNH pressure, vapour pressure and saturated vapour pressure. Each record for each parameter is also flagged to indicate the quality of the value.Daily Rainfall Data contains records precipitation in the 24 hours before 9 am, number of days of rain within the days of accumulation and the accumulated number of days over which the precipitation was measured. Each precipitation record is flagged to indicate the quality of the value.

Australian Bureau of Meteorology assembled this dataset of 191 Australian rainfall stations for the purpose of climate change monitoring and assessment. These stations were selected because they are believed to be the highest quality and most reliable long-term rainfall stations in Australia. The longest period of record is August 1840 to December 1990, but the actual periods vary by individual station. Each data record in the dataset contains at least a monthly precipitation total, and most records also have daily data as well.

In 2022, the observed annual average maximum temperature in Australia reached 28.8 degrees Celsius. Overall, the annual average maximum temperature had increased compared to the temperature reported for 1901.

The development of the Australian geothermal industry over the last decade owes much to compilations of drill hole temperature data undertaken in the early 1990s in Canberra. The portrayal of this data on maps of predicted temperature at five kilometres depth, and contained heat resource calculations from this data, have shifted the perception that because Australia does not have significant current magmatic activity there is no geothermal potential. The Australian geothermal industry arguably now leads the world in terms of development of amagmatic geothermal systems for electricity generation. Work at the Bureau of Mineral Resources Geology and Geophysics (now Geoscience Australia) provided a brief compilation of open-file drill hole temperature data, and a map of thermal gradient (Nicholas et al. 1980). The work of Somerville et al. (1994) provided a much larger compilation, and included a significant study into the resource potential that could be accessed by Hot Dry Rock technology. Finally, Chopra and Holgate (2005 Austherm version) further extended the dataset and produced an image of the predicted temperature at 5 km that has become very widely distributed. (Figure 1). OZTEMP is the result of work undertaken to refine the Austherm database, and to utilise new datasets within a GIS for the extrapolation of temperature to 5 km depth and the interpolation between these datapoints. The method, which is largely derivative from that of Chopra and Holgate (2005), and the areas of new work, is described briefly below.

(From http://www.worldclim.org/methods) - For a complete description, see:

Hijmans, R.J., S.E. Cameron, J.L. Parra, P.G. Jones and A. Jarvis, 2005. Very high resolution interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas. International Journal of Climatology 25: 1965-1978.

The data layers were generated through interpolation of average monthly climate data from weather stations on a 30 arc-second resolution grid (often referred to as 1 km2 resolution). Variables included are monthly total precipitation, and monthly mean, minimum and maximum temperature, and 19 derived bioclimatic variables.

The WorldClim interpolated climate layers were made using: * Major climate databases compiled by the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN), the FAO, the WMO, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), R-HYdronet, and a number of additional minor databases for Australia, New Zealand, the Nordic European Countries, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, among others. * The SRTM elevation database (aggregeated to 30 arc-seconds, 1 km) * The ANUSPLIN software. ANUSPLIN is a program for interpolating noisy multi-variate data using thin plate smoothing splines. We used latitude, longitude, and elevation as independent variables.

Sea-surface temperatures in the Coral Sea and around northern Australia are about +1°C warmer on average than 100 years ago, with record warmth occurring in 2016.

The monthly mean absolute maximum temperature derived from the hottest day of each month over 50-years (1955 to 2005) of 5km gridded daily climate (Jeffrey et al. 2001)

Abstract This data and its metadata statement were supplied to the Bioregional Assessment Programme by a third party and are presented here as originally supplied. Köppen's scheme to classify world …Show full descriptionAbstract This data and its metadata statement were supplied to the Bioregional Assessment Programme by a third party and are presented here as originally supplied. Köppen's scheme to classify world climates was devised in 1918 by Dr Wladimir Köppen of the University of Graz in Austria. Over the decades it has achieved wide acceptance amongst climatologists. However, the scheme has also had its share of critics, who have challenged the scheme's validity on a number of grounds. For example, Köppen's rigid boundary criteria often lead to large discrepancies between climatic subdivisions and features of the natural landscape. Furthermore, whilst some of his boundaries have been chosen largely with natural landscape features in mind, other boundaries have been chosen largely with human experience of climatic features in mind. The present paper presents a modification of Köppen's classification that addresses some of the concerns and illustrates this modification with its application to Australia. A modification of the Köppen classification of world climates has been presented. The extension has been illustrated by its application to Australian climates. Even with the additional complexity, the final classification contains some surprising homogeneity. For example, there is a common classification between the coastal areas of both southern Victoria and southern New South Wales. There is also the identical classification of western and eastern Tasmania. This arises due to the classification not identifying every climate variation because a compromise has to be reached between sacrificing either detail or simplicity. For example, regions with only a slight annual cycle in rainfall distribution do not have that variation so specified in the classification. Similarly, regions with only slightly different mean annual temperatures are sometimes classified as being of the same climate. The classification descriptions need to be concise, for ease of reference. As a result, the descriptions are not always complete. For example, the word "hot" is used in reference to those deserts with the highest annual average temperatures, even though winter nights, even in hot desert climates, can't realistically be described as "hot". In conclusion, the authors see the classification assisting in the selection of new station networks. There is also the potential for undertaking subsequent studies that examine climate change in the terms of shifts in climate classification boundaries by using data from different historical periods, and by using different characteristics to define climate type such as "inter-annual variability of precipitation". In the future, it is planned to prepare climate classification maps on a global scale, as well as on a regional-Australian scale. TABLE 1 Köppen's original scheme New scheme Tropical group Divided into equatorial & tropical groups Monsoon subdivision Becomes rainforest (monsoonal) subdivision Dry group Divided into desert & grassland groups Summer/winter drought subdivisions Now requires 30+mm in wettest month Temperate group Divided into subtropical & temperate groups Cold-snowy-forest group Cold group Dry summer/winter subdivisions Moderately dry winter subdivision added Polar group Maritime subdivision added Frequent fog subdivision Applies now only to the desert group Frequent fog subdivision Becomes high humidity subdivision High-sun dry season subdivision Absorbed into other subdivisions Autumn rainfall max subdivision Absorbed into other subdivisions Other minor subdivisions Absorbed into other subdivisions This dataset has been provided to the BA Programme for use within the programme only. For copyright information go to http://www.bom.gov.au/other/copyright.shtml. Information on how to request a copy of data can be found at www.bom.gov.au/climate/data. Dataset History Trewartha (1943) notes that Köppen's classification has been criticised from "various points of view" (Thornthwaite 1931, Jones 1932, Ackerman, 1941). Rigid boundary criteria often lead to large discrepancies between climatic subdivisions and features of the natural landscape. Some boundaries have been chosen largely with natural landscape features in mind (for example, "rainforest"), whilst other boundaries have been chosen largely with human experience of climatic features in mind (for example, "monsoon"). Trewartha (1943) acknowledges the validity of these criticisms when he writes that "climatic boundaries, as seen on a map, even when precisely defined, are neither better nor worse than the human judgements that selected them, and the wisdom of those selections is always open to debate". He emphasises, however, that such boundaries are always subject to change "with revision of boundary conditions ... (and that) ... such revisions have been made by Köppen himself and by other climatologists as well". Nevertheless, the telling evidence that the Köppen classification's merits outweigh its deficiencies lies in its wide acceptance. Trewartha (1943) observes that "its individual climatic formulas are almost a common language among climatologists and geographers throughout the world ... (and that) ... its basic principles have been ... widely copied (even) by those who have insisted upon making their own empirical classifications". Trewartha's (1943) comments are as relevant today as they were half a century ago (see, for example, Müller (1982); Löhmann et al. (1993)). For the above reasons, in modifying the Köppen classification (Figures 1 and 2), the authors have chosen to depart only slightly from the original. Nevertheless, the additional division of some of the Köppen climates and some recombining of other Köppen climates may better reflect human experience of significant features. In recognition of this, the following changes, which are also summarised in Table 1, have been adopted in this work: The former tropical group is now divided into two new groups, an equatorial group and a new tropical group. The equatorial group corresponds to the former tropical group's isothermal subdivision. The new tropical group corresponds to that remaining of the former tropical group. This is done to distinguish strongly between those climates with a significant annual temperature cycle from those climates without one (although this feature is not as marked in the Australian context, as elsewhere in the world). Under this definition some climates, distant from the equator, are classified as equatorial. This is considered acceptable as that characteristic is typical of climates close to the equator. Figure 1 shows that, in Australia, equatorial climates are confined to the Queensland's Cape York Peninsula and the far north of the Northern Territory. The equatorial and tropical group monsoon subdivisions are re-named as rainforest (monsoonal) subdivisions. This is done because, in these subdivisions, the dry season is so short, and the total rainfall is so great, that the ground remains sufficiently wet throughout the year to support rainforest. Figure 2 shows that, in Australia, rainforest subdivisions are found along parts of the northern part of Queensland's east coast. The former dry group is now divided into two new groups, a desert group and a grassland group. The new groups correspond to the former subdivisions of the dry group with the same name. This is believed necessary because of the significant differences between the types of vegetation found in deserts and grasslands. That there is a part of central Australia covered by the grassland group of climates (Figure 1) is a consequence of the higher rainfall due to the ranges in that region. The new desert and grassland winter drought (summer drought) subdivisions now require the additional criterion that there is more than 30 mm in the wettest summer month (winter month) to be so classified. This change is carried out because drought conditions may be said to prevail throughout the year in climates without at least a few relatively wet months. It should be noted that the original set of Köppen climates employed the phrases "winter drought" and "summer drought" to respectively describe climates that are seasonally dry. Figure 2 shows that the summer drought subdivisions are found in the southern half of the country, whilst the winter drought subdivisions are found in the northern half of the country. The former temperate group is divided into two new groups, a temperate group and a subtropical group. The new subtropical group corresponds to that part of the former temperate group with a mean annual temperature of at least 18°C. The new temperate group corresponds to that part of the former temperate group remaining. This is done because of the significant differences in the vegetation found in areas characterised by the two new groups, and in order that there is continuity in the boundary between the hot and warm desert and grassland climates where they adjoin rainy climates. Figure 1 shows that a large region, covering much of southeast Queensland and some elevated areas further north, is now characterised as subtropical. For simplicity, the former Köppen cold snowy forest group of climates is re-named as the cold group. Figure 1 shows that this climate is not found on the Australian mainland or in Tasmania. For the temperate, subtropical, and the cold groups, the distinctly dry winter subdivision requires the additional criterion of no more than 30 mm in the driest winter month to be so classified. In order that there be consistency between the criteria for the distinctly dry winter and the distinctly dry summer subdivisions, this is thought to be a worthwhile change. Figure 2 shows that, whereas that part of Western Australia characterised

Statistics illustrates consumption, production, prices, and trade of Machinery, plant and laboratory equipment; for treating materials by change of temperature, other than for making hot drinks or cooking or heating food in Australia and Oceania from 2007 to 2024.

Metadata record for data from AAS (ASAC) project 3134.

Data from this project will be available via the child records.

Public Ocean acidification and warming are global phenomena that will impact marine biota through the 21st century. This project will provide urgently needed predictive information on the likely survivorship of benthic invertebrates in near shore Antarctic environments that is crucial for risk assessment of potential future changes to oceans. As oceans acidify carbonate saturation decreases, reducing the material required to produce marine skeletons. By examining the effects of increased ocean temperature and acidification on planktonic and benthic life stages of both calcifying and non-calcifying ecologically important organisms, predictions can be made on the potential vulnerability of marine biota to climatic change.

Project Objectives: This project aims to deliver one of the first assessments of the impacts that ocean warming and acidification through rising CO2 levels will have on Antarctic benthic marine invertebrates and of the adaptive capacity of common Antarctic biota to climate change. The developmental success of species that have a skeleton will be compared to those that do not under controlled conditions of increased sea water temperature and CO2. A comparison of the responses and sensitivity of developmental stages of calcifiers (echinoids, bivalves) and non-calcifiers (asteroids) to elevated CO2 and temperature will generate much needed empirical data for assessment of risk and adaptive capacity of Antarctica's marine biota and will enable predictions of how benthic invertebrates will fare with respect to climate change scenarios.

The specific aims of the project are to: 1 - examine the impacts of predicted future elevated ocean temperatures and CO2 on fertilisation success, embryonic and larval development of Antarctic molluscs and echinoderms 2 - document skeletal calcification and morphology and growth in larvae under controlled conditions of increased sea water temperature and CO2. 3 - compare the dynamics of biomineralisation with respect to the elemental composition in response to increased temperature and CO2 in species with aragonite and calcite exoskeletons (bivalves) and porous high magnesium calcite endoskeletons (echinoids) to assess the potential for an in-built adaptive response in calcification 4 - used as a biomarker measure of stress and impaired calcification. 5 - compare biomineralisation and elemental signatures in skeletons in larvae of Antarctic molluscs and echinoderms under climate change scenarios with that determined for related species at lower latitudes to assess the relative sensitivity and vulnerability of Antarctic biota.

Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report: Progress against objectives: 1. Unsuccessful as target species, Sterechinus neumayeri had already passed its spawning period, and attempts to spawn and fertilise the Antarctic bivalve, Laternula ellipticaskeleta failed. 2. Skeletal calcification and morphology of juveniles of Abatus nimrodi were successfully documented under controlled conditions of ocean warming and acidification. 3. Juveniles of A. nimrodi were preserved and returned to Australia in order to compare the dynamics of biomineralisation and skeletal mineralogy. 4. No heat shock protein experiments were carried out. 5. Air-dried tests of S. neumayeri and A. nimrodi were RTA'd in order to compare the dynamics of biomineralisation and skeletal mineralogy.

Taken from some project abstracts written by two students working on the project:

Impacts of ocean acidification and increasing seawater temperature on the early life history of the Antarctic echinoderm Sterechinus neumayeri.

Simultaneous effects of ocean acidification and temperature change in Antarctic environments warrant investigation as little is known about the synergistic consequences of these parameters on Antarctic benthic species. Fertilisation success, embryo cleavage, blastulation and gastrulation were documented in the sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri, reared for up to 12 days under experimental pCO2 and elevated temperature scenarios predicted by the IPCC (2007) over the next century. Experimental treatments included controls (-1 degrees C, pH 8.0), elevated temperature (1 degrees C, 3 degrees C) and decreased pH (7.8, 7.6) in all combinations in a multi-factorial design. Preliminary results suggest that fertilisation and development up to the gastrula stages are robust to increases in pCO2 and temperature predicted by the year 2100. Percentages of normally developing blastula and gastrula were also slightly higher in temperatures 2 degrees C above ambient.

Impacts of ocean acidification and increasing seawater temperature on juveniles of two Antarctic heart urchins, Abatus ingens and Abatus shackletoni.

Simultaneous effects of ocean acidification and temperature change in Antarctic environments warrant investigation as little is known about...

Data derived using ANUCLIM v6 (beta) with the new set of climate surfaces (centred on 1990), by Dr. Kristen Williams.

Given the rising frequency of thermal extremes (heatwaves and cold snaps) due to climate change, comprehending how a plant’s origin affects its thermal tolerance breadth becomes vital. We studied juvenile plants from three biomes: temperate coastal rainforest, desert, and alpine. In controlled settings, plants underwent hot days and cold nights in a factorial design to examine thermal tolerance acclimation. We assessed thermal thresholds (Tcrit-hot and Tcrit-cold) and thermal tolerance breadth (TTB). We hypothesised that: 1) desert species would show the highest heat tolerance, alpine the greatest cold tolerance, with temperate species intermediate; 2) all species would increase heat tolerance post hot days and cold tolerance after cold nights; 3) combined exposure would broaden TTB more than individual conditions, especially in the desert and alpine species. We found that biome responses were minor compared to the responses to the extreme temperature treatments. All plants increased thermal tolerance in response to hot 40°C days (Tcrit-hot increased by ~3.5°C) but there was minimal change in Tcrit-cold in response to the cold -2°C nights. In contrast, when exposed to both hot days and cold nights, on average plants exhibited an antagonistic response in TTB, where cold tolerance decreased and heat tolerance was reduced, and so we did not see the bi-directional expansion we hypothesised. There was, however, considerable variation among species in these responses. As climate change intensifies, plant communities, especially in transitional seasons, will regularly face such temperature swings. Our results shed light on potential plant responses under these extremes, emphasizing the need for deeper species-specific thermal acclimation insights, ultimately guiding conservation efforts. Methods Title: Methods for Assessing Thermal Tolerance in Plants from Different Australian Biomes Summary: This study compared the responses of plants from temperate rainforest, alpine, and desert biomes in Australia to hot days and cold nights using temperature-dependent increases in chlorophyll a fluorescence. For each biome, eight species were selected based on seed availability and family representation. Seeds were obtained from conservation seed banks, sown, and grown under common conditions in glasshouses. Some species were purchased from nurseries. A fully factorial experimental design was used with three biomes, eight species per biome, five replicates, and four temperature treatments (control, hot days, cold nights, and a combination of hot days and cold nights). Experiments were conducted in growth chambers, and plants were exposed to the temperature regimes for five days. Leaf temperatures were monitored using thermocouples. Thermal tolerance assays were performed on days three and five of the experiment using Maxi Pulse Amplitude Modulating (PAM) systems. Leaf discs were placed on Peltier plates and subjected to cooling (-25°C) and heating (65°C) ramps. The critical temperatures during heating (Tcrit-hot) and cooling (Tcrit-cold) were defined as the breakpoint between the slow and fast-rise phases of basal fluorescence.

We present an array of new proxy data and review existing ones from core Fr1/94-GC3 from the East Tasman Plateau. This core is positioned at the southern extreme of the East Australia Current and simultaneously records changes in both oceanography and environments both offshore and in southeastern Australia. Microfossils, including planktonic and benthic foraminifera, ostracods, coccoliths, and radiolarians, were studied to interpret palaeoceanographic changes. Sea-surface temperature was estimated using planktonic foraminifera, alkenones and radiolaria. From the silicate sediment fraction, the mean grain size of quartz grains was measured to detect changes in wind strength. An XRF scan of the entire core was used to determine the elemental composition to identify provenance of the sediment. We also compare these data with a pollen record from the same core provided in an accompanying paper that provides the longest well-dated record of vegetation change in southeastern Australia. In an area of slow sedimentation, Fr1/94-GC3 provides a continuous record of change in southeastern Australia and the southern Tasman Sea over approximately the last 460,000 years. We determine that the East Australian Current varied in intensity through time and did not reach the core site during glacial periods, but was present east of Tasmania during all interglacial periods. The four glacial-interglacial periods recorded at the site vary distinctly in character with Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9 being the warmest and MIS 5 the longest. Through time, glacial periods have progressively become warmer and shorter. Deposition of airborne dust at the core site is more substantial during interglacial periods than glacials and is believed to derive from mainland Australia and not Tasmania. It is likely that the source and direction of the dust plume varied significantly with the wind regimes between glacials and interglacials as mean effective precipitation changed.

Behavioral thermoregulation is an important mechanism allowing ectotherms to respond to thermal variations. Its efficiency might become imperative for securing activity budgets under future climate change. For diurnal lizards, thermal microhabitat variability appears to be of high importance, especially in hot deserts where vegetation is highly scattered and sensitive to climatic fluctuations. We investigated the effects of a shading gradient from vegetation on body temperatures and activity timing for two diurnal, terrestrial desert lizards, Ctenotus regius, and Morethia boulengeri, and analyzed their changes under past, present, and future climatic conditions. Both species' body temperatures and activity timing strongly depended on the shading gradient provided by vegetation heterogeneity. At high temperatures, shaded locations provided cooling temperatures and increased diurnal activity. Conversely, bushes also buffered cold temperature by saving heat. According to future climate change scenarios, cooler microhabitats might become beneficial to warm-adapted species, such as C. regius, by increasing the duration of daily activity. Contrarily, warmer microhabitats might become unsuitable for less warm-adapted species such as M. boulengeri for which midsummers might result in a complete restriction of activity irrespective of vegetation. However, total annual activity would still increase provided that individuals would be able to shift their seasonal timing towards spring and autumn. Overall, we highlight the critical importance of thermoregulatory behavior to buffer temperatures and its dependence on vegetation heterogeneity. Whereas studies often neglect ecological processes when anticipating species' responses to future climate change the strongest impact of a changing climate on terrestrial ectotherms in hot deserts is likely to be the loss of shaded microhabitats rather than the rise in temperature itself. We argue that conservation strategies aiming at addressing future climate changes should focus more on the cascading effects of vegetation rather than on shifts of species distributions predicted solely by climatic envelopes.

In 2021, Tasmania received the highest annual rainfall of any state or territory in Australia at an average of 1378 millimeters. South Australia was the driest state with 232 millimeters of rainfall on average.