Australia's Hottest January on Record as we head into a climate election

Just as climate change has been driving up temperatures in Australia to record levels, the political temperature is also rising for a climate election for May 2019.

Australia has just experienced its hottest December on record, followed by its hottest January. It's already been a very hot summer with record breaking temperatures, and it's not yet over.

Storify: January 2016 smashes monthly temperature anomaly by 1.13C

NASA and NOAA and JMA all agree that January 2016 set a new high temperature anomaly over 1 degree C, the ninth consecutive month to set a new monthly record. The strong El Nino likely added about 0.2C to this anomaly.