The Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO's State of the Climate report says extreme heat events have increased in duration, frequency and intensity in large swaths of Australia.

Oz is drier, too:  The report also found May-July rainfall had reduced by around 19 per cent since 1970 in the south-west of Australia.

Since the 1970s, firies are dealing with more extreme fire days and fire seasons getting longer and longer.  Since 1910, the temperature on land and sea has increased by one degree, which has profound effects on ecosystems accustomed to a certain way of doing things.

"It's not significant when you think about the shift from night to day, but we're talking about a shift in the actual climatology of Australia," said Bureau of Meteorology's Dr. Karl Braganza to the ABC.  "If you move from one climate zone to another in Australia - where there's only a degree or two of difference - you'll notice quite a different environment."

BOM's Dr. Braganza - and practically every other scientist of repute across the entire globe - says the warming trend will continue if humans do nothing about CO2 emissions, or just keep them at the current level.  Only by cutting way back on fossil fuels and slashing emissions will the trend halt or hopefully reverse.