Posts tagged ‘heatwave’
Petition: Cooling standards needed for Victorian Renters
Sweltering Cities have launched a petition to the Victorian Government to incorporate minimum cooling standards in rental accommodation.
As temperatures rise we are experiencing more extreme heat days and heatwaves.
Add to this the crisis in housing with more and more people renting.
Many rental properties are simply not safe to live during extreme heat. Sweltering Cities conductyed a survey which revealed Nearly half of renters surveyed reported they left their home to find a cooler location during heatwaves, compared to just 14.5% of homeowners.
(more…)Addressing urban heat and burn risk in Playgrounds
“Unshaded synthetic turf is not a safe material to use in playgrounds in hot climates”, claim urban heat researchers based in Sydney in a new peer reviewed study.
Public playgrounds are important for our children to play and exercise. Increasing temperatures with climate change poses a health risk and, in particular, a burn risk to children due to surfaces heating up during hot weather, according to new research.
Researchers Sebastian Pfautsch, Agnieszka Wujeska-Klause, Judi Walters based in University of Western Sydney released the peer reviewed study: Outdoor playgrounds and climate change: Importance of surface materials and shade to extend play time and prevent burn injuries, published in the September 2022 issue of Building and Environment.
The research focussed on impact of urban heat on playground surfaces, and potential for burn injuries. Synthetic turf and other rubber/plastic surfaces were considered as part of this research. It has implications for urban heat of synthetic turf and other rubber and plastics surfaces and prevention of burn injuries, especially to children. This research should also help to inform Moreland Council investigation into Making Sports Playing surfaces sustainable.
(more…)September 2, 2022 at 11:29 pm morelandclimategroup Leave a comment
Climate signal worsens for January extreme heat while heatwave ends Summer
The climate signal in Australia’s January heat has increased from around 15-fold in 2013 to 50-fold in 2019, according to preliminary analysis of summer temperature extremes.
Sophie Lewis is a climate researcher who was involved in an important climate attribution study that determined the angry summer of 2013 was influenced by climate change. Her preliminary research for January temperatures in 2019 shows a much larger climate signal.
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Heatwave building over Christmas for Central and South-Eastern Australia
Heatwave forecast for 27-29 December 2018
The Bureau of Meteorology shows a heatwave building through the week over Christmas. The forecast is for severe and extreme heatwave impacts particularly Thursday 27 December to Saturday 29 December.
Melbourne might miss some of the impact of this with perhaps a day or two over 35 degrees + temperatures being south of the divide with some respite with cool nights from the warm days.
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Study: 50 degree extreme heat days possible in Melbourne
Climate Emergency
Yes, heatwaves and extreme heat events are going to get worse for many years, even if we do everything possible to reduce emissions. Week long heatwaves, and extreme heat events with temperatures over 50 degrees Celsius may be seen in a decade or so in Sydney and Melbourne.
That is the inertia in the climate system. In the meantime we need to rapidly increase renewables while making energy savings through energy efficiency, and cutting emissions particularly from the electricity generation sector.
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Summer time and heatwave management shows some cracks
SE Australian Heatwave
Melbourne sweltered through another heatwave, the first of 2017. Hope everyone survived the heat.
Temperature at Melbourne (Olympic Park) hit 36.1C at 3.30pm on Saturday. Of far greater concern, the overnight minimum temperature hovered at around 30C dipping down to 28.4C at 1.30am as the low point before rising to 30C at 9am Sunday. By early afternoon a cool change had moved through dropping temperatures to the mid 20s.
High night time temperatures disturb sleep and reduce physiological recovery for the next day. Night time is also when the Urban Heat Island effect is most pronounced as there is less atmospheric mixing, and zero vegetation transpiration to cool things down, unless there are stronger winds. The Bureau of Meteorology labelled the night as ‘oppressive’ citing both the higher than normal minimum temperature and higher humidity.
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Hot Christmas expected for Melbourne during SE Australia heatwave
Christmas heatwave
The Bureau of Meteorology are predicting a heatwave across south east Australia towards the end of this week. (See BOM heatwave Service) Maximum Temperature for Christmas day in Melbourne is predicted to be 35C. From Christmas Eve to Wednesday 28 December maximum temperatures are forecast to be above 30C with some warm nights with the temperature going down to 20-25C minimum.
Melbourne Forecast:
Friday 23 December: Min 13 Max 29 Sunny
Saturday 24 December: Min 18 Max 31 Sunny
Sunday 25 December: Min 19 Max 35 Sunny
Monday 26 December: Min 24 Max 31 Becoming cloudy
Tuesday 27 December: Min 19 Max 35 Cloudy
Wednesday 28 December Min 25 Max 35 Cloudy
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Consultation on Urban Heat Island effect Action Plan in Moreland
Moreland UHI Thermal imaging 14 January 2014 10am
Moreland Council have been working on developing a policy on mitigating the urban heat island effect. This is when temperatures warm up much more in urban areas due to all the buildings and roads, than rural areas. Climate change is causing temperatures to rise, and also causing earlier and more intense heat waves to occurr. Climate change also amplifies the urban heat island effect.
Moderation of urban heat island effect temperatures by even a few degrees can reduce substantial health impacts and improve comfort for residents in extreme heat conditions. Every year hundreds of ambulance callouts are made for people suffering heat related medical conditions. More people die during extreme heat events than for any other disaster, including bushfires. A 2014 report found that Melbourne, of all Australia’s cities, had the highest annual average number of heat-related deaths, with about 200 a year, according to the Age.
Research has shown that Moreland has a high social vulnerability index to extreme heat already, based upon demographic and social factors.
Moreland Council is conducting a community consultation in regard to the draft Urban Heat Island effect action plan on Tuesday 22 March 2016, 6 pm – 8 pm at Coburg Town Hall foyer, 90 Bell Street, Coburg. You can Register your attendance and download and read the draft plan. The draft action plan was approved for community consultation at Council’s February 2016 meeting with the intention of formal presentation of the final draft in April 2016 followed by formal endorsement in June 2016.
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Expert statement on extreme heat and health
Last week I attended the release and launch of the Climate Council’s latest report of health impacts of extreme heatwaves. Climate change and the urban heat island effect result in increased frequency and intensity of extreme heat events. They are silent killers especially affecting those most vulnerable. Our political leaders need to heed the advice of the experts involved in this Climate Council report on heat health (PDF 4.2MB). They issued a concise statement calling for action (reproduced in full below).
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Hot Tuesday – stay cool in the extreme heat
Heat Health Districts and Health Alert thresholds
Tuesday, February 23, is going to be very bloody hot, with Melbourne as part of the Central District now issued a heat health alert.
Three country districts had early heat health alerts issued by Vichealth: Northern, North-east, and North-central districts. On Monday Central district, including Melbourne, and South and West Gippsland had heat health alerts issued. On Monday evening Est Gippsland and North East District Heat Health alerts were issued.
Stay cool, leave out water for wildlife, and definitely don’t leave any children, pets or grandparents in the car (Definite no-no).
Bushfire risk at the moment is rated severe. A total fire ban has been issued in 8 of Victoria’s 9 districts.
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Climate Action Merribek: people in Brunswick, Coburg, Fawkner and Glenroy wanting action on climate change 