STORY: Heat map shows Australia's summers getting hotter, more dangerous
SHOOTING TIME: March 1, 2025
DATELINE: March 2, 2025
LENGTH: 00:01:19
LOCATION: Canberra
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of pool, streets in Australia
2. various of the nature
3. various of local people

STORYLINE:

Australia's summers are becoming increasingly hotter and more hazardous, with more urban areas facing the threat of extreme heat. A newly released heat map illustrates the severe impacts, showing that without climate action, some regions could endure temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius for up to two-thirds of the year by 2090.

According to the newly published Heat Map of Australia developed by the Climate Council, for nearly one-third of Australian communities, the number of days over 35 degrees Celsius experienced each year could double by 2050.

Extreme heat, which harms people's health, livelihoods, and economy, is one of the most direct consequences of climate pollution. It is also one of the most harmful, with more Australians dying as a result of heatwaves since 1890 than from floods, bushfires, and all other climate-fueled disasters combined, the Climate Council said on Friday.

According to the heat map, Western Sydney residents, with a population of about four million people by mid-century, will swelter through twice as many days above 35 degrees Celsius, which are about three weeks of extreme heat every summer by then.

The heat map is an interactive tool that shows how cutting climate pollution, caused by burning coal, oil, and gas, will limit extreme heat in Australian neighborhoods.

The map projects the average number of hot and very hot days, as well as very hot nights, for each suburb per year by 2050 and 2090, and across scenarios including no action, continuing with existing action, and taking necessary action to cut climate pollution.

The Climate Council calls for urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions to limit the number of extremely hot days and warm nights Australians are forced to endure in the future.

It highlighted the vulnerability of the poorest regions, especially children, the elderly, and those working outside, as many people cannot afford air conditioning or ways to cool themselves against the extreme heat.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Canberra.
(XHTV)