AUCKLAND, New Zealand (CU)_New Zealand recorded its seventh-hottest year on record in 2020, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) revealed on Tuesday (Jan 12).
The agency, which has been gathering New Zealand’s temperature records since the early 1900s, said the nationwide average temperature for 2020 was 13.24C, just shy of the 13.45C registered in the country’s hottest year on record, 2016.
Moreover, 2020 also marked nearly four years since New Zealand experienced a month with below-average temperatures, the Institute added.
NIWA’s principal scientist for forecasting, Chris Brandolino, said, in the recent years, climate change was exacerbating natural warming phenomena which leads to hotter temperatures, long dry spells and excessive rainfall.
He added that global temperature warmed by a whole degree over the last century, and in New Zealand, six of the eight warmest years on records have occurred since 2013.
“We did see [marine] species that are commonly not seen in our oceans. Warmer oceans mean warmer air temperatures [on land]; and more water vapour in the air, which increases the risk of extreme rainfall events,” he said.
In 2020, New Zealand experienced a number of significant weather events from rising temperatures to droughts to flooding.
In March last year, agriculture minister Damien O’Connor declared a drought in the North Island, upper South Island, and the Chatham Islands and up to $2 million in government funding was released to support farmers up until June this year.
Subsequently, the South Pacific nation experienced the hottest winter on record, while a number of ski fields reported the shallowest depth of snow in a decade, with less than 45% of the average depth.
Later in the year, several parts of the country experienced sever rainfall, particularly in Napier, significant flooding caused dreadful conditions in November, while the lower South Island was affected by a widespread crop damage throughout the Christmas break, with heavy and prolonged rainfall wiping out 50 per cent of the country’s cherry crop.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has described the battle against climate change as a “nuclear-free moment” for her generation, and late last year, her government declared a climate change emergency and committed to a carbon-neutral government by 2025.
“This declaration is an acknowledgement of the next generation. An acknowledgement of the burden that they will carry if we do not get this right and do not take action now,” she said. “It is up to us to make sure we demonstrate a plan for action, and a reason for hope.”
