From Greece, to the UK, to Japan and even Sweden, a slew of places in the Northern Hemisphere are suffering extreme heat. And the chances of extreme heat records tumbling are growing all the time.
How to move beyond the warm words about tackling urban heat islands to doing something about them.
‘Soft fall’ surfaces are widely used in play areas where children might fall, but can also get very hot in the sun, which undermines this safety benefit.
Brisbane City Council/Flickr
Commonly used surfaces in play areas, such as “soft fall” materials and Astroturf, can heat up to 80-100°C in the sun. This makes them a hazardous design choice, especially as the climate gets hotter.
There are ways we can stay cool in a heat wave without blasting air con at peak times.
AAP Image/TRACEY NEARMY
The urban heat island and summertime blackouts
The Conversation25,6 MB(download)
Today, we're asking why some of the most disadvantaged parts of our cities cop the worst of a heatwave and how you -- yes, you! -- can do your bit to reduce the risk of a summer time blackout.
Australians need better planning to cope with extreme heat.
Mike Blake/Reuters
Australia’s scorching summers aren’t just inconvenient: heatwaves are deadly. Yet new research has found many vulnerable people don’t have a plan for extreme heat.
If Jay Weatherill is returned as the premier of South Australia in 2018, he promises to once again butt heads with Malcolm Turnbull over energy policy.
Morgan Sette/AAP
Last year was a vicious one for climate and energy politics. And with a South Australian election and various other federal decisions in the offing, 2018 looks like being similarly rancorous.
Last year saw plenty of warm weather around the country, but other notable events included dry months in the southeast, some very cold winter nights, and record-warm dry season days in the north.
Extreme temperatures in Cordoba, Spain in June 2017.
EPA/SALAS
In an unchanging climate, we would expect record-breaking temperatures to get rarer as the observation record grows longer. But in the real world the opposite is true - because we are driving up temperatures.
Living in a single-storey unit can lead to much higher air conditioning costs.
Aged-care units can be a lottery of comfortable versus uncomfortable temperatures, depending on the building’s construction and where you live within it. That needs to improve.