Global Warming

April breaks global temperature record

April was the seventh month in a row that broke global temperature records, Nasa figures show.

Last month smashed the previous record for April by the largest margin ever. The new record for April trounced the previous one, set in 2010, by 0.24C. That makes it three months in a row that the monthly record was broken by the largest margin ever.

But in terms of its departure from the 1951-1980 temperature average used by Nasa, April was equal with January 2016.

Several northerly regions, including the US state of Alaska, saw very hot temperatures during April - a pattern repeated in previous months.

The records for April will also raise questions about the achievability of a goal to hold global warming to 1.5C that was agreed at the Paris climate talks in December 2015.

Air Quality Warning

A remote part of Tasmania renowned for its clean air has hit new peak levels of carbon dioxide, sparking renewed calls for Australian leaders to combat global warming.

Cape Grim, in the island state's picturesque northwest, is home to one of the three major observation stations around the globe, and has been used to take meteorological readings for the southern hemisphere since 1976.

Last week the station for the first time surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in what Greenpeace said was a warning that should not be ignored.