CANBERRA, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said there is "no doubt that our climate is getting warmer" as the country's official weather forecaster predicted prolonged warm, dry conditions throughout the winter months.
On a tour of drought-stricken areas in New South Wales and Queensland on Monday and Tuesday, Turnbull acknowledged climate change was still being debated, but added, "I don't know many people in rural New South Wales that I talk to that don't think the climate is getting drier and rainfall is becoming more volatile."
Australia's southeast has posted record high temperatures in 2018 during an unseasonably dry and hot autumn.
And the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting below average winter rainfall for NSW, South Australia, northern Victoria and western parts of Western Australia.
The bureau says the dry conditions are likely to be severe in the Murray-Darling Basin region, one of Australia's most significant agricultural areas, and in eastern NSW.
Most climate scientists concur that climate change is accelerating, fed by human activity.
If there is no reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, populations become more exposed to the negative effects of warming, which include heatwaves, extended drought, bushfires and storms.
The carbon pricing scheme implemented by the former Labor government resulted in a fall in Australia's emissions but the Abbott government repealed that scheme and emissions are now trending upwards.
Latest official data show pollution increased by 1.5 percent in the year to December 2017. Australia's emissions levels are now higher than they were in 2012 and up 3.6 percent since the carbon price was repealed in 2014.
Only the electricity sector recorded a decrease, due in large part to the closure of coal-fired power plants and renewable projects becoming operational.
Emissions are increasing in most other sectors, including waste, agriculture and transport.
The Turnbull government is trying to implement an electricity policy that would bring emissions down 26 percent on 2005 levels by 2030.
However, many analysts say the target is too low for Australia to meet its commitments under the Paris agreement, though even that target is being opposed by government conservatives who could vote against it at parliament.