It’s a little recognised fact that Australia (as well as the US) is not a signatory to the Kyoto agreement to cut greenhouse gases. Australia’s meteorology bureau has found that 2005 was the country’s hottest year on record, prompting renewed fears of global warming. The average temperature was 22.89ºC – a rise of more than 1ºC from the average in previous years and the highest since records began in 1910.