Climate Central: An exceptional heat wave and associated spate of wildfires have scorched the Australian landscape during the past two weeks, with Monday ranking as Australia's hottest day on record. According to the Associated Press and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), the national average temperature on Monday was a sizzling 104.6°F. That eclipsed the previous mark of 104.3°F set in 1972.
Temperatures were so hot this week that BOM meteorologists had to add two new colors to their weather maps, with...