Australia's capital cities will see number of hot days double by 2050 without urgent climate change action
By the time today's children reach retirement, Australia's capital cities will swelter through at least twice as many days over 35 degrees and large swathes of the country will be all but uninhabitable for much of the year.
Increasingly frequent extreme temperatures are likely to threaten Melbourne's ability to host the Australian Open, decimate world-renowned wineries in the Barossa Valley and push endangered flying fox populations towards extinction.
These are among the findings of a detailed new analysis by the Climate Council, which provides a window into our future weather if urgent action isn't taken to address climate change in the next decade.
READ MORE: 'This beast is a reality': Victorians warned of catastrophic fire risk
Coastal suburbs of Sydney will routinely swelter through multiple 40 degree days each summer in coming decades, if further action isn't taken to cut climate emissions, the report found. Sydney Morning Herald
The analysis maps out different scenarios based on whether countries take no action on climate change, meet their current emissions targets or take "necessary" further action to reduce the impacts of climate change.
"If we don't take further steps now, some neighbourhoods and communities will become so hot people will struggle to live there," Climate Council CEO Amanda MacKenzie said.
"It's not something that's far off - it's here now and it will define the coming decades."
The Council's new interactive heat map tool allows people living anywhere in Australia to insert their postcode to find out the likely impacts of climate change in 2050 and 2090 in their suburb.
If existing climate emissions targets are met, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth would see the number of hot days over 35 degrees double by 2050.
Brisbane faces three times as many days a year over 35 degrees and a similar number of hot nights, where the thermostat doesn't dip below 25 degrees.
By 2090, the picture becomes significantly more dire.
Penrith in western Sydney currently sweats through 13 days over 35 degrees each summer, but if no action is taken to address climate pollution that would more than triple to 44 days by 2090 - equivalent to an entire extra month of extreme heat.
Inner Sydney would fare only marginally better, with a predicted 20 days over 35 degrees.
Coastal areas of Sydney would also routinely experience multiple summer days over 40 degrees for the first time.
READ MORE: Two-hour interrogation brought police to Sydney couple's bodies
Scorching temperatures and severe heatwaves like those recently experienced in Western Australia are set to become the new normal in coming decades, according to the Climate Council modelling. Weatherzone
While known for its warm and humid weather, Brisbane currently only experiences an average of two days a year over 35 degrees, but under the Climate Council's modelling that would skyrocket to 25.
Residents in nearby Ipswich would see similar daily temperatures for more than two months of the year.
But the most drastic effects will be felt in the Top End, Far North Queensland and the Kimberley.
Darwin currently swelters through an average of 47 days over 35 degrees each year, but that would balloon to 176 days - almost half the year - by 2050 if no climate action is taken.
By 2090, the NT capital would reach 35 degrees on 290 days of the year and almost as many hot nights.
"In other words, by the time a child born today is entering retirement, the city could be facing temperatures over 35 degrees for more than nine months of the year," the Climate Council states.
"Housing in remote communities in the Northern Territory is often old and badly constructed, with little insulation.
"Climate change is turning these houses into 'dangerous hot boxes' that threaten the health of residents, especially older people and those with existing health conditions."
While a few more hot summer days may seem inconsequential to some, Doctors for the Environment Australia executive director Dr Kate Wylie warned heatwaves can and do kill.
"Extreme heat is lethal," she said.
"As well as the risks of heat exhaustion and heat stroke in extreme conditions, we know that heat exposure increases the risks of many serious illnesses, such as heart and respiratory diseases, mental health presentations and premature births."
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
