
Weather in Australia
Australia has a pretty diverse climate, but since much of the land of the continent is covered by sand dunes, only the southern parts of it have a temperate climate. The soil of those regions are comparatively more fertile. The climate of the northern parts of Australia are strictly tropical, with rainforests and grasslands and deserts.
The level of rainfall in Australia varies greatly, often including droughts which last through several seasons. Statewide sandstorms also occur, and in some rarer cases, massive tornados also take place.
Most of western Australia has a hot desert climate, and the land there is sandy and barren. The temperatures there may rise as high as 50°C. The desertification of this area was the result of regular burning caused by the early settlers of Australia who arrived here over 50,000 years ago, according to a research conducted in 2005 by American and Australian researchers. During the colder seasons, sub-zero temperatures are quite common in Australia. However, the absence of very high mountain ranges and the presence of mostly warm oceans on all sides of the continent usually prevent the temperature from dropping to extremely low levels.
Over the last century, the average surface air temperature of Australia has risen by 0.7 °C.
Weather in Australia