Essay by Eric Worrall
The “record-breaking” winter heatwave gripping Australia may have saved households millions of dollars on heating bills. But the abrupt end to winter should clearly not be viewed as a good thing.
Heatwave brings Australia’s winter weather to an abrupt end as climate change upsets seasons
According to climate reporter Jess Davis
On Sunday afternoon, Australians across the country enjoyed glorious winter sunshine.
Flowers bloomed early, football was played in 24-degree temperatures in Melbourne, and ski fields were saddened as heavy rain ruined the rest of another poor snow season.
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And although winter starts to seem quite cold to many, part of that is because our memories are poor.
“We feel quite cold because many other winters here have been warm in the last 20 years or so,” said Professor Perkins-Kirkpatrick.
“In human experience, we typically only remember weather events or seasonal events from up to eight years ago.
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“To be honest, for most of us, this is quite pleasant, really a nice change from the colder weather conditions,” said Dr. King.
“But in the spring or summer, if we get a heat wave of the same magnitude as what we’ve seen over the past week or something of a similar magnitude, we’re going to be really concerned about those heat waves.”
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More than a thousand people have died during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as temperatures hit 51.8 degrees Celsius.
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The elderly and the sick suffer in heat waves, just as they suffer in extreme cold. But cheap coal or gas to power air conditioners, or increased winter fuel subsidies for pensioners, would do more to help the sick and the elderly on limited incomes than wasting billions of dollars of government cash on absurd programs that aim to raise future temperatures by a fraction of a degree.
Home heating (and cooling) costs are a big issue in Australia, especially in the colder and climate-obsessed southern states.
Almost half of Australians are freezing this winter because of power bill fears
By Emily McPherson • Senior Writer 8:56 AM August 12, 2024
Millions Australian shivering through the winter, avoiding using heating for fear of the expense, a new survey finds.
New research from comparison website Finder found that one in eight Australians don’t use their heating “all the time”, while another 36 per cent said they avoid using it as often as possible.
The findings, based on a survey of 1,049 respondents, show almost half of Australians – or the equivalent of 4.9 million households – are living without adequate heating.
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A severe heat or cold wave is only a problem for people if they are forced to endure its effects, for example because they cannot afford to turn on the air conditioning.
For people who are not sick, the kind of temperatures they are talking about are not a problem, as long as people stay hydrated.
When I was young, I worked in a poorly ventilated plastics factory in Melbourne, Australia. The chemical processing and leaky hot hydraulic presses released large plumes of steam, so the environment was always humid. On the hottest days, the thermometer on the factory floor reached 55C/130F. Management patrolled the factory floor every 5 minutes, providing rehydration drinks.
My grandfather told me that he worked in similar conditions at a Melbourne foundry during World War II, working 18-hour days making artillery for the war effort. His factory had large lead molten pots that were constantly kept at 660F to heat treat the steel, so I suspect his factory floor was probably hotter than what I experienced.
The human body is adaptable. When my workday ends at 3pm, it is a memorable experience to step outside into the bright sunlight on a 110F day, and shiver uncontrollably from the cold for 2 minutes as my body adjusts to the sudden drop in temperature.
I’m sure people who work in bakeries and mines have similar experiences.
But you wouldn’t expect climate scientists who spend most of their lives in comfortable, air-conditioned offices to know any of this.
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