We’ve learned a lot about heatwaves, but we’re still just warming up

One of the two authors,
Sarah Perkin-Kirkpatrick.

Australia is no stranger to heatwaves. Each summer, large areas of the continent fry under intense heat for days on end, causing power outages, public transport delays, and severe impacts to human health. The estimated impact on our workforce alone is US$6.2 billon per year. Heatwaves are also Australia’s deadliest natural hazard, accounting for well over half of all natural disaster-related deaths.

Along with our colleagues, we have taken a close look at what we know and don’t know about heatwaves in Australia, as part of a series of reviews produced by the Australian Energy and Waster Exchange initiative.

Let’s start with the stuff we know. First, we are very clear on the weather systems that drive heatwaves in Australia’s densely populated coastal areas. Typically, a persistent high-pressure system sits next to the region experiencing the heatwave, pushing hot air from the centre of Australia towards that region. The location of the high depends on the region experiencing the heatwave, but there is always one there.

Read the piece on The Conversation by a Research Fellow from the University of New South Wales, Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick; and a Lecturer in Environmental Engineering from the University of Tasmania,  Christopher J. White “We’ve learned a lot about heatwaves, but we’re still just warming up.”