Climate Change Chart of Fitzroy Island, Australia

Overview of climate changes

Temperature changes

Monthly mean temperature was higher by a difference of +1.43 °C averaged across calendar months in the more recent period. This is an unweighted mean of the monthly means, not a day-weighted annual average, and it describes the aggregate rather than every month; these temperatures are not daytime maxima. The largest monthly increase in mean temperature occurred in June, with a difference of +1.87 °C compared with the earlier reference period. That identifies the strongest monthly increase, not a uniform change throughout the year.

Changes in rainfall

Mean daily rainfall increased by a difference of +2.05 mm/day averaged across calendar months. This unweighted mean describes the aggregate of monthly means rather than a day-weighted annual average, and it does not mean that rainfall rose in every month; the values are daily means, not monthly totals. The largest monthly increase in mean daily rainfall was in April, where the difference was +5.80 mm/day. This marks the largest increase among the reported months, rather than a change that can be applied to all months.

Changes in sunshine duration

Mean daily sunshine duration had a difference of -0.09 hours/day averaged across calendar months, indicating a small decrease in the more recent period at the reported precision. This is an unweighted average of monthly means, not a day-weighted annual figure, and does not imply the same change in each month. Monthly differences varied in direction: February had the largest increase, at +0.71 hours/day, while January had the largest decrease, at -0.50 hours/day. These are mean daily sunshine durations and describe the most pronounced monthly changes, not daily conditions on every date.