Mass wildlife die-offs, such as those wrought by Australia’s recent heatwaves, make for grim headlines. But the wider effects of extreme weather are more complex, and can be remarkably long-lasting.
Air conditioning changed both building design and people’s active management of home temperatures. A return to houses designed for our climate can keep us comfortable and cut energy use and emissions.
Jim Salinger, University of Tasmania and James Renwick, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Analysis of last summer’s heatwave shows it killed farmed salmon and decimated kelp forests, as well as shifting grape harvests and fish spawning times forward by several weeks.
Pollutants from fossil fuel combustion cause thousands of premature deaths nationwide every year. This is just one way our climate change policies impact on the nation’s health.
The forecast arrival of El Niño may mean the east coast of Australia will experience an exceptionally hot and dry summer, but does this mean there will be fewer mosquitoes buzzing about?
Climate change poses a threat to our mental health. Building connected communities is one way to combat a rise in suicide rates as global temperatures increase.
With New South Wales suffering winter bushfires and temperature records tumbling around the globe, our leaders in Canberra have picked a bad time to jettison climate policy in favour of political bickering.
Andrew King, The University of Melbourne and Ben Henley, The University of Melbourne
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.