TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Greenhouse gases and depletion of the ozone layer causing southern Australia to become drier, researchers at the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported.
In their statement as quoted by Channel News Asia on Sunday, southern Australia experienced a decline in rainfall that began around 1970 and increased over the next for decades.
The report, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, states the trend is likely to spread to most parts of Australia over the next few decades.
Parts of Australia have been gripped by drought and heatwaves in the last few years. The 2013-2014 summer saw rising temperatures in Perth and Adelaide. Sydney at that time suffered its dries summer in 27 years.
ANINGTIAS JATMIKA | CHANNEL NEWS ASIA