Last year was the hottest on record in Australia, official figures showed yesterday, just days before the government hosts a key international meeting aimed at curbing global warming. The mean temperature in 2005 was 1.09 C above average, making it the highest since records began in 1910, the Bureau of Meteorology said in its annual climate summary. The figures, showing a mean of 22.9 C, came after wildfires raged through homes and farms on a scorching New Year's Day and sparked accusations that the government had shirked its environmental responsibilities. The weather bureau pointed out that scientific studies have linked global temperature increases to the greenhouse effect. Link

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