Wellington, March 5, 2018 (AFP) - - New Zealand has sweltered through its hottest summer on record and can expect more of the same if climate change continues unabated, the government's scientific agency said Tuesday. The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said that the daily temperatures were recorded at an average of 18.8 degrees Celsius, 2.1 degree Celsius more than normal. With the mercury reaching as high as 38.7 degree Celsius in the South Island, NIWA said it was the hottest summer since records began in 1909, surpassing the previous high set in 1934-35. NIWA's chief forecaster Chris Brandolino said a number of factors were behind the warm weather, including a spike in marine temperatures and warm northerly winds from a La Nina weather pattern. Brandolino added that global warming due to climate change was also a major contributor because it lifted baseline temperatures over the long term. He added that if the factors behind man-made climate change were not addressed, more records were likely to fall in coming years. "The expectation is that as we work our way through the coming decades, or 10, 20, 30, 100 years from now, if we're on the same trajectory we are now with carbon emissions, this will continue," he told Radio New Zealand. The high temperatures prompted the government to declare a mid-level drought in some areas of the country and provide assistance to struggling farmers. Scientists have also linked extreme weather to climate change, including cyclone systems that have devastated Pacific island nations and caused flooding in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has described the situation as the defining challenge of her generation, while, the New Zealand's fledgling centre-left government has vowed to help tackle climate change. She has set New Zealand a target of being carbon neutral by 2050.
NIWA declares that the previous summer, which had an average temperature of 18.8 °C (65.8 °F), was the hottest in New Zealand history.