The mean temperature in 2005 was 1.09 degrees Celsius (1.96 degrees Fahrenheit) 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 degrees Celsius, 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, in which gases such as those emitted by burning coal and oil trap heat in the atmosphere.

Australia and the United States are the only two developed countries refusing to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which demands a commitment to reduce greenhouse gases.

Instead, the two countries will join some of the world's biggest polluters in a search for an alternative to the accord at the inaugural meeting of the "Asia-Pacific Clean Development and Climate Partnership" here on January 11-12.

Key ministers from Australia, the United States, China, India, Japan and South Korea will launch a non-binding pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions first announced last July after months of secret negotiations.

Unlike the Kyoto Protocol, the new initiative does not have enforcement standards or a specific timeframe.

The pact calls for the use of new technologies to cut back on emissions, and member countries say it will complement rather than undermine the Kyoto accord.

Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell said that while the record temperatures showed "climate change is alarming", Kyoto was not the answer because it did not force developing nations to cut emissions.

But critics have described the new initiative as toothless and self-serving for a group that includes major oil and coal producers and consumers.

"2005 gave us a little taste of what life will be like if we fail to tackle climate change," the Greenpeace environmental group said. "The extreme heat and bushfires of New Year's Day 2006 showed that it isn't going to be fun."

The main opposition Labor Party said Prime Minister John Howard's refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol had isolated Australia from international action against climate change.

"Unfortunately, the Howard government is fiddling while Australia burns," said environment spokesman Anthony Albanese.

Warmer-than-normal temperatures were not confined to Australia in 2005, with many other regions reporting an exceptionally warm year, the weather bureau said.

"According to a preliminary estimate released by the World Meteorological Organization on December 15, the global mean temperature for 2005 was about 0.48 degrees Celsius above normal, putting 2005 amongst the four warmest years globally since records commenced in 1861," it said.

While Australia's temperature change might appear small, "a 1.0 degree Celsius increase in mean temperatures is equivalent to many southern Australian towns shifting northward by about 100 kilometres (60 miles)," it said.

Scientists predict global warming will increase the frequency and severity of droughts, flooding and storms and threaten agricultural production.

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