Australia's scorching and widespread heat waves throughout this summer propelled the national average temperature to a new all-time high for the season, according to its weather bureau.
Why it matters: Australia is one of the countries most impacted by climate extremes, suffering from heat waves, bushfires and coral bleaching events tied to long-term, human-driven increases in greenhouse gas concentrations. However, this summer brought unprecedented heat to every part of the country — part of a trend consistent with what scientists predict as global warming continues.
On Saturday morning, the U.S. will take a key step toward restoring its capability to launch astronauts from its own soil when a SpaceX rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Why it matters: Returning launch capabilities of astronauts to U.S. soil for the first time since the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011 will mean that NASA will no longer be dependent on Russian rockets for hitching rides to the Space Station, at a cost of about $75 million per seat. The reliance on Russian rockets has worked for NASA, but it's not an indefinite solution.
