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Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science SocietyJournal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science Society
A journal for meteorology, climate, oceanography, hydrology and space weather focused on the southern hemisphere
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Seasonal climate summary southern hemisphere (autumn 2020): another coral bleaching event for the Great Barrier Reef without an active El Niño

Grant A. Smith https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4692-6565 A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A The Bureau of Meteorology, 700 Collins Street, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.

* Correspondence to: grant.smith@bom.gov.au

Handling Editor: Blair Trewin

Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science 74, ES24014 https://doi.org/10.1071/ES24014
Submitted: 15 May 2024  Accepted: 9 October 2024  Published: 31 October 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Bureau of Meteorology. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Austral autumn 2020, inclusive of the months March, April and May, followed a period of hot and dry conditions over summer that led to high bushfire risk in Australia due to a strong positive Indian Ocean Dipole. The autumn period was also warmer and drier than average overall with strong differences across the states. Notable exceptions were rainfall across New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria, and rainfall associated with Tropical Cyclone Esther near the Pilbara and the Northern Territory Top End. Overall, Australia maximum mean temperatures were +0.65°C above average, with Western Australia in the top 10 recorded temperatures at +1.53°C above average. South-east Australian rainfall led to flooding and extinguished the remaining fires of the 2019–2020 bushfire season. The rainfall did not reach coastal regions of south-east Queensland where severe rainfall deficiencies persisted. Autumn 2020 was classified as neutral in terms of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and marks the second time that the Great Barrier Reef has experienced mass coral bleaching due to elevated ocean temperatures in an ENSO neutral year. Elevated sea surface temperatures in the Coral Sea are largely attributed to a general warming trend in the region. Antarctic sea ice extent went from below average to close to average by the end of May 2020, aided by a positive Southern Annular Mode. At the end of autumn 2020, there were early signs of a La Niña event building, with negative temperature anomalies in the subsurface and cooling of sea surface temperatures along equatorial Pacific.

Keywords: Antarctic sea ice, bushfire, coral bleaching, Great Barrier Reef, rainfall, seasonal climate summary, surface temperature, tropical cyclone.

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