CANBERRA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Australia's summers are getting hotter and more dangerous, with more city suburbs at risk from extreme heat, revealed a new heat map highlighting the impacts of extreme heat, with some Australian regions projected to spend two-thirds of the year sweltering above 35 degrees Celsius by 2090 if without climate change action.
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 area's temperature hit 48.9 degrees Celsius on Jan. 4, 2020, a taste of the future.
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, said a statement of the council.
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 against the extreme heat. ■
