Australia+-+Climate



Australia is an island surrounded by water but because it is so big, it's also considered to be a continent. The island state of Tasmania, which we have talked about before is part of the Australian continent even though it's located 210km south of the mainland. It actually became separated from the rest of Australia when sea levels rose and flooded the existing land bridge about 12,000 years ago.

Australia is the ONLY continent located entirely south of the Southern Hemisphere that has is permanently inhabited. As an island, it has no land borders with any other countries.

Fun fact! Australia is the worlds oldest continent! Most of the landforms we see today were formed millions of years ago. There have been very few geological events since then (such as folding, faulting, volcanoes) so this allowed a lengthy period of erosion by wind, water, sand and temperature. This has led to Australia being the world's flattest continent.

Climate: Australia is a land of bright sunshine, blue skies and warm temperatures. The climate is subtropical. Think warm temperatures and minimal seasonal variations. Precipitation falls mainly as rain and most of the continent rarely gets frost. Lucky them. The higher elevations of the Australian Alps and central Tasmania are the only two regions that receive any accumulations of snow.

Because Australia is located south of the equator, the seasons are opposite to North America. So right now while we're freezing and shovelling snow, everyone in Australia is having a picnic and laying on the beach!

Australia is also the world's driest inhabited continent. The interior and much of the west receives less than 38cm of rain per year! I'll show you what that looks like on a ruler so you get an idea of how little that is! Drought is a very big problem in these regions but they also have the risk of severe thunderstorms that produce flash floods. The Far North experiences much more variety in seasonal patterns, such as monsoons, bringing severe storms and torrential rain.

The only area that receives reliable rainfall during the year is the most populated region - which makes sense! Along the coast from Northern Queensland south to Tasmania, rainfall, temperature and humidity than it does in the south. The South part has the greatest amount of precipitation in the winter months.

Questions: 1. Why is Australia considered a continent? 2. Explain Tasmania became separated by Australia. 3. Why is Australia known as the world’s flattest continent? 4. How much rain does the interior of Australia get each year? 5. What are some major climate related problems that Australia faces?

Let's watch this video below! It gives some good facts on the climate and weather of Australia. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">[|Australia climate]