heatwave

Moreland Council calls for greater heatwave emergency planning

takver — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 15:56:26 +0000

Welcome to the new normal with stinking hot summers, as heatwaves hover over and amplify the urban heat island effect in cities like Melbourne bringing the heat from central Australia. Most of Victoria is feeling the heat, which has come despite ENSO being in a neutral phase. So far the State Government lead by Premier Denis Napthine has made only Token efforts in managing heatwaves despite predictions by climate scientists that heatwaves increasing faster than average temperatures and becoming more frequent and intense. At least my local council, the City of Moreland is taking heatwaves seriously investigating what it can do and calling for greater heatwave emergency planning by the state government.

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More heatwave, more action required on climate change and adaptation

takver — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 03:53:49 +0000

Much of south east Australia is again suffering a heatwave this week. The temperature reached 41.2C in Melbourne on Tuesdayand is forecast to rise again over this weekend. Inland towns get no such reprieve from the heat, with the Bureau of Meteorology having a heatwave forecast in place.

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It is now False to say 'No single extreme weather event can be attributed to climate change'

takver — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 15:13:36 +0000

Professor David Karoly and Post-doctoral researcher Sophie lewis have been undertaking analysis on the temperature record for Australia in 2013. Their article published at The Conversation - Australia’s hottest year was no freak event: humans caused it - is an attribution of risk study of the extreme Australian heat in 2013 involving statistical probability analysis.

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Mass bat deaths in record setting Queensland heatwave

takver — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 07:44:51 +0000

Flying Foxes are dropping to earth and dying in their thousands from heat exhaustion. The extreme heat in Queensland from the 29 December to 5 January has taken a massive toll of flying fox colonies, warns a wildlife conservation organisation. It is estimated that perhaps hundreds of thousands of native flying foxes have died as a direct result of the record setting high temperatures in the heatwave event across Queensland and north western NSW.

Last year Australia suffered it's hottest year on record, with scientists claiming that extensive fractional risk attribution modelling of 2013 temperatures that this was clearly caused by human greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.

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Australian Heatwave temperatures climb towards 50C at start of 2014

takver — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 13:33:07 +0000

With substantial heat in the continental centre, the first days of 2014 saw temperatures climb towards 50C in western Queensland, western NSW, South Australia and parts of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

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Cities to get much hotter as heatwaves amplify Urban Heat Island Effect

takver — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 15:24:28 +0000

A new study just published looked at the way Urban Heat Island effect interacts with heatwaves. It is not a simple addition of the heatwave increase in temperature added to the urban heat island temperature: heatwaves exacerbate and amplify the Urban Heat Island Effect so that the impact is magnified. This is a major energy use and health concern for people living in cities, particularly the poor and vulnerable.

"Not only do heat waves increase the ambient temperatures, but they also intensify the difference between urban and rural temperatures. As a result, the added heat stress in cities will be even higher than the sum of the background urban heat island effect and the heat wave effect." say the researchers, Dan Li and Elie Bou-Zeid, both from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University

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Australian Heatwave part of global warming trend says IPCC head Pachauri

takver — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 08:24:25 +0000

The IPCC chairperson is visiting Australia and commented that the Extreme heatwave and catastrophic bushfires that Australia is experiencing is an 'unmistakeable' part of a global trend of an increase in the frequency and intensity of heatwaves and other extreme weather events. Indeed, researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) have just released a new study - Global increase in record-breaking monthly-mean temperatures - which clearly shows the present Australian heatwave records being broken and the US recording it's hottest year in 2012, are both part of this global trend.

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Climate Change: Records tumble in extreme heatwave as temperature scale adjusted upwards

takver — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 12:58:20 +0000

On Tuesday January 8 the Bureau of Meteorology released an interim special climate statement on the Extreme January heat Australia is currently experiencing (Updated on January 14). Record temperatures both day-time maximum and night-time minimums continue to be broken as of 13 January. The extraordinary heatwave has also been the scene for catastrophic fires, especially in Tasmania.

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Julia Gillard links intensity of bushfires with climate change as NSW survives catastrophic fire conditions

takver — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 12:35:52 +0000

On Monday the Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard visited the bushfire devastated town of Dunalley in Tasmania and expressed her support for the residents of the town, many of whom lost everything, and outlined emergency assistance measures being taken by both the Federal and Tasmanian Government.

She also said, very briefly, that bushfires were part of Australian life in a hot and dry country. But then she went a step further. She acknowledged that climate change contributes to the frequency and intensity of bushfires through more extreme weather events like the current extreme Heatwave.

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Bushfires strike with extreme heatwave blanketing most of Australia

takver — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 10:45:54 +0000

Jan 8: Climate Change: Records tumble in extreme heatwave as temperature scale adjusted upwards

Jan 8: Julia Gillard links intensity of bushfires with climate change as NSW survives catastrophic fire conditions

Jan 5: Tasmanian Bushfires catastrophic but no confirmed loss of life

Jan 4: Hobart recorded it's highest recorded minimum temperature Thursday night and highest recorded daytime temperature on Friday. Bushfires are currently raging in Tasmania destroying houses and forcing evacuations (see below).

Jan 3: Elevated temperatures in an extreme heatwave are occuring across a brought sweep of Australia, with the heatwave expected to last at least a week. It is very unusual that a heat wave covers such a large area of the continent at one time, according to Karl Braganza, manager of climate monitoring at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Australia's weather has switched to hot and dry after one of the wettest two year periods in Australia's history influenced by an extremely strong La Nina event.

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South Australia faces catastrophic fire danger

takver — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:55:44 +0000

Catastrophic Fire Danger warning has been issued for two regions in South Australia - Flinders and North-West Pastoral districts - because of predicted extreme temperatures, strong winds and low humidity. This is the first time this top classification fire warning has been used in Australia.

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It's getting hot in here - November heatwave 'classic climate change weather'

takver — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:04:03 +0000

Is it hot enough for you yet in Melbourne? We are in the midst of a heatwave of Several days of highly unseasonal 30+ temperatures in early November. At 4 days of heat in excess of 30 degree so far... it is the longest spell of heat in Melbourne in November since 1925. The record of six days over 30 degrees in November, which occurred in 1896, might very well be broken this week.

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