Differential warming and rainfall in Ballarat vs. Bendigo, South East Victoria, Australia

Both regions share similar population, growth, and meteorological station settings. Wind energy infrastructure maps are available at Aneroid Energy (Fig. 1, 2).

Australian Bureau of Meteorology data since November 1991 show Ballarat’s monthly mean minimum temperatures rising at 0.508°C per decade, similar to Bendigo’s 0.471°C. Over the last decade, coinciding with Ballarat’s wind farm operations, Ballarat’s warming rate increased to 1.287°C per decade, while Bendigo’s was 0.814°C, yielding a 0.473°C differential (Fig. 3, 4). This aligns with Zhou et al. (2012), reporting 0.72°C per decade warming in a Texas wind farm region (Nature Climate Change, 2(7), 539–543).