Much of India experiences both extreme heat and extreme air pollution, as seen in this photo of the Akshardham Hindu temple. Days with both are going to increase.
Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images
In South Asia, days with both extreme heat and extreme pollution are expected to increase 175% by 2050. Separately, the health effects are bad; together they will likely be worse.
Older records can tell us a lot about Australia’s pre-industrial climate, before the large-scale burning of fossil fuels tainted global temperature records.
At the peak of a summer heatwave in Adelaide, an aerial survey of land surface temperatures reveals just how much cooler neighbourhoods with good tree and vegetation cover can be.
Autumn may bring wetter-than-average conditions in parts of southern Australia, indicating a gradual easing of the drought in some areas.
Even without air conditioning, there are still many things you can do to prepare for extreme heat and stay comfortable on hot days.
fizkes/Shutterstock
Air conditioning isn’t the answer for everyone, especially for residents of the less affluent – and often hotter – suburbs of our big cities. But there are other ways to make hot days more bearable.
It’s the first time since overlapping records began that Australia experienced both its lowest rainfall and highest temperatures in the same year.
dan HIMBRECHTS/AAP
David Jones, Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Karl Braganza, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and Skie Tobin, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
The Bureau of Meterology says persistent drought and record temperatures were a major driver of Australia’s fire activity, and the context for 2019 lies in the past three years of drought.
Bushfires are not the only weather and climate events set to ravage Australia in coming months.
Dave Hunt/AAP
The peak time for heatwaves in southern Australia has not yet arrived. Many parts of Australia can expect heavy rains and flooding. And northern Australia’s cyclone season is just gearing up.
If coffee and wine are things you love, then you need to pay attention to climate change.
Shutterstock/Ekaterina Pokrovsky
The world’s fastest-growing cities are in the tropics. They are highly exposed to climate change, especially as urban heat island effects and humidity magnify the impacts of increasing heatwaves.
Left: 32˚C in Ilkley, Yorkshire on July 25. Right: flash floods in Grinton, Yorkshire, on July 31.
Danny Lawson / PA