2009: Australia’s second warmest year in 99 years

According to the Australian government's Bureau of Meteorology, the past calendar year -2009 was the second warmest on record in Australia since 1910.

The bureau said on Tuesday the high temperatures were caused by unusual or extreme heatwaves, with a temperature trend consistent with global warming, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report.

Australia recorded an annual mean 2009 temperature that was 0.90 degrees Celsius above 1960-90 average which made it Australia's second-warmest year since high-quality records began in 1910 according to the bureau's annual climate statement. According to records 2005, was Australia's warmest year.

High temperatures were especially notable in the south-east during the second half of 2009 as Australia nationally as well as the Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales independently recording their warmest July-December periods on record.

Southern Australia was hit by extreme heat waves during late January/early February that resulted in a new maximum temperature record in Melbourne, the Victorian capital of 46.4 degrees and a new Victoria state maximum temperature record of 48.8 degrees.

Another heatwave struck, most unusually in August over large parts that resulted in Australia's warmest August on record, even as a prolonged heatwave in November swept central and south-east Australia.