Articles on heat waves

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Cities are facing more heatwaves, but not all strategies to keep us cool are equal. Sydney image from www.shuttrstock.com

January 29, 2017

When the heat is on, we need city-wide plans to keep cool

Mathew Lipson, UNSW and Melissa Hart, UNSW

Our cities are getting hotter. Luckily, as a built environment, we can actually do something about it.

Sydneysiders cool off in heatwave conditions gripping eastern Australia in January 2017. AAP Image/Joel Carrett

January 19, 2017

2016 crowned hottest year on record: Australia needs to get heat smart

Liz Hanna, Australian National University; Kathryn Bowen, Australian National University, and Mark Howden, Australian National University

2016 is the third consecutive hottest year on record. How can we adapt?

Reflective roof and skylights on a Walmart store, Las Vegas, NV. Walmart/Flickr

June 30, 2016

Green and cool roofs provide relief for hot cities, but should be sited carefully

Ashish Sharma, University of Notre Dame

Green and cool (reflective) roofs are effective tools for cooling overheated cities. Research in Chicago shows that their impacts depend on local conditions, so planners should site them carefully.

Flooding in Houston, April 18, 2016. Laurence Simon/Flickr

April 22, 2016

Has climate change really improved U.S. weather?

Kevin Trenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Extreme weather has an outsized impact on everyday life. Focusing on average weather patterns may make Americans dangerously complacent about how climate change is already affecting our lives.

Extreme weather could trigger ecosystem collapse, including mass tree deaths. Dead tree image from www.shutterstock.com

February 18, 2016

Rising extreme weather warns of ecosystem collapse: study

Alfredo Huete, University of Technology Sydney and Xuanlong Ma, University of Technology Sydney

Extreme weather will affect people and animals, as well as whole ecosystems. Research using satellites shows that ecosystems worldwide are vulnerable to collapse.

Tennis fans cool off at the Australian Open in Melbourne this week. AAP Image/Joe Castro

January 15, 2014

How heat can make your body melt down from the inside out

Donna Green, UNSW

Just as Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 identified a temperature at which paper self-combusts, the Australian Open has just shown the world that there is a temperature at which tennis players start…

Monday’s heatwave forecast - with even worse heat predicted for the south-east this week. http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/heatwave/

January 12, 2014

What’s cranking up the heat across south-eastern Australia?

Tess Parker, Monash University

Across south-eastern Australia this morning, people are waking up to forecasts of scorching heat for the week ahead. Players and spectators heading to the Australian Open should prepare for some baking…

Top contributors

Kevin Trenberth
Distinguished Senior Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Alfredo Huete
Professor, Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology Sydney
Liz Hanna
Honorary Senior Fellow, Australian National University
Donna Green
Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC) & Associate Investigator for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Systems Science, UNSW
Tess Parker
Postdoctoral research associate, University of Oxford
Mark Howden
Director, Climate Change Institute, Australian National University
Melissa Hart
Graduate Director ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, UNSW
Xuanlong Ma
Xuanlong Ma is a Friend of The Conversation.

Research Associate in Ecological Resilience, Climate Change Cluster (C3), University of Technology Sydney
Kathryn Bowen
Senior Research Fellow, Australian National University
Ashish Sharma
Research Assistant Professor, University of Notre Dame
Mathew Lipson
PhD Candidate, UNSW