Potential Warming Range For Australia - Up To 1C By 2030, 3.4C By 2070 In Absence Of Action - B'Berg

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Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Australia's average temperatures may rise by about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2030 and by 3.4 degrees Celsius by 2070 unless greenhouse gas emissions are cut, the nation's weather bureau and science agency said.

Temperatures will be more extreme with ``substantially'' more days over 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO said today in a joint report. Rainfall will decrease and droughts and high fire-danger weather become more frequent under the ``high-emissions'' scenario, it said.

A United Nations panel of scientists last month said the world is ``very unlikely'' to avoid a warming of 2 degrees Celsius that may lead to droughts and floods and put millions of people at risk. ``The message is that global warming is real, humans are very likely to be causing it, and that it is very likely that there will be changes in the global climate system in the centuries to come, larger than those seen in the recent past,'' the report said.

Australia's average temperatures increased by 0.9 degrees Celsius since 1950, with ``substantial'' declines in rainfall in the east and southwest, according to the Climate Change in Australia report published online. 2005 was Australia's hottest year on record, said Scott Power, the weather bureau's principal research scientist.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aN8e7lDVQkSg&refer=australia