Summers starting sooner, becoming longer and hotter, in many places

15 April 2026

Erik Rolfsen, writing for the University of British Columbia (UBC):

A new study by UBC researchers has found that between 1990 and 2023, the average summer between the tropics and the polar circles grew about six days longer per decade. That’s up from roughly four days per decade found in past research investigating up until the early 2010s.

On a day less than a week ago, the maximum temperature in Sydney, NSW, was forecast to reach thirty-three degrees Celsius. That’s nearly a month and a half into what is meant to be autumn in this part of the world. Sure, one swallow does not a summer make, so to speak, and the region can experience unseasonably warm days anytime of the year, I know.

But the UBC findings confirm what many of us have long suspected: summers today are longer and warmer than they once were. The consequences are far reaching though, impacting on health, water supplies, and food production, among other things.

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Australia, climate, climate change, weather