The new year in a large portion of the United States may have gotten off to a cold start, but down under, quite the opposite has been true. Temperatures have been soaring in Australia---so much so that the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has had to add new colors to its temperature forecast map, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Its previous temperature range had been capped at 50 degrees---or 122 degrees F.
In this forecast map, the purple blob indicates a forecast for temperatures exceeding 50 degrees C, or 122 degrees. Much of the country has been sweltering at 100 degrees or more. The record-breaking temperatures have fueled brushfires across Australia. The L.A. Times has reported that swaths of the country face “some of the most dangerous conditions for fires on record.” As of today, 140 brushfires were reported in the state of New South Wales alone. And a NASA map ...
