Australian heat wave is off the scale29 January 2013
The consequences of climate change are mounting up all around us.
The floods and storms of recent months have been constant reminders of the planetary emergency that we face. And now temperatures are rising to record highs.
The Bureau of Meteorology in Australia has recently added new colours to the map to measure the current heat wave.
A shade of purple
The small dot of purple shown in the middle of this image represents 54 degrees celsius.
© Australia Bureau of Meteorology
This breaks the previous record temperature of 50.7 degrees celsius, recorded in 1960 in Southern Australia.
Not only is this heat very unpleasant to live in, but it's led to a 'catastrophic' forest fire warning from Australian officials.
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