Sydney’s Weather (and Climate)

Sydney-siders who are fortunate enough to live near the coast usually enjoy the warmest weather in winter and coolest in summer with (the exception of the Blue Mountains). January and February produce the hottest weather with temperatures in the 30s and occasionally 40s for the western suburbs. Coolest June and July but rarely single figure temperatures unless you live in the Blue Mountains.

For many years now the weather has been kind to visitors and worrying for the locals. With falling dam levels continued blue sunny skies have Sydney residents worried. The State Governments plans for a seawater desalination plant have not changed that sentiment much. The desalination plant has been widely criticised for being expensive and adding to the greenhouse effect (see below) and global warming seen by many as the cause of the problem. Water recycling or laundering may well be Sydney’s salvation but as yet the politicians are too scared to seriously consider the option. Whilst most Sydney-siders don’t realise it, Richmond and Windsor residents have been drinking Blue Mountains waste water (99% water – 1% waste) for years. Maybe a wider recognition of this fact might make the politicians less timid.

Greenhouse Effect

The greenhouse effect is a natural warming process of the earth. When the sun's energy reaches the earth some of it is reflected back to space and the rest is absorbed. The absorbed energy warms the earth's surface, which then emits heat energy back toward space as longwave radiation. This outgoing longwave radiation is partially trapped by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour, which then radiate the energy in all directions, warming the earth's surface and atmosphere. Without these greenhouse gases the earth's average surface temperature would be about 33 degrees Celsius cooler.

Human activities such as deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels have increased the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Scientists are concerned that higher greenhouse gas concentrations will lead to an "enhanced" greenhouse effect, which may lead to global climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an international group of scientists, which advises policymakers on the latest science of greenhouse climate change. In late 1995, the IPCC concluded, "the balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate."

Climate & weather:

Climate is what you expect; weather is what you get.
Climate is about long-term records, trends and averages;
weather is the day to day experience.

Climate is the sum or synthesis of all the weather recorded over a long period of time. It tells us the average or most common conditions, or extremes, or counts of events, or frequencies.

Weather is a description of conditions over a short period of time - a "snap shot" of the atmosphere at a particular time.

If weather is the watch then climate is the calendar.

Useful weather forecast, information on dam levels and rainfall

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