The het continues in Australia

More heatwaves for Australia

Australia's Climate Council says heatwaves in Australia are becoming hotter, longer and more frequent.

Radio NZ,

16 January, 2014

The interim findings of a report by the council have been released as the southern part of the country swelters in rising temperatures.

After notching up two consecutive days over 40 degrees Celsius, Melbourne is on track to register its second longest heatwave since records began in the 1830s.

The temperature is expected to reach 41°C on Thursday and Friday, the ABC reports.

The Climate Council report finds some parts of the country have experienced an average increase of one to three heatwave days over the past 60 years.

Cattle seek relief from the Australian sun as temperatures edge above 40 degrees.

Photo: AAP

One of the report's co-authors, Sarah Perkins, says the change has occurred mostly in Australia's south-east and west.

"Particularly in areas around Adelaide and Perth that are currently experiencing heatwave conditions. They appear to be the hardest hit in terms of the number of heatwaves that have increased, and also the intensity of the heatwaves."

In Adelaide, residents have perspired for five days in temperatures above 40 °C. The thermometer there is expected to reach 46 °C on Thursday.

Adelaide residents take to the beach to cool off in the latest heatwave.

Photo: AAP

The AAP reports that soaring temperatures across southern Australia have fanned bushfires, triggered health alerts and sparked concerns about power outages.

Sarah Perkins says the extreme hot weather is one of the most direct consequences of climate change.

Melbourne's homeless moved on' from sheltering in cool public spaces

Homeless people are being chased away from airconditioned centres and harassed by ''cranky passers-by'' as they attempt to seek refuge from the extreme heat.

The Age,

16 January, 2014

The city's rough sleepers say it is too hot to sleep at night. During the day, they are often moved on from cool public places, including shopping centres, fast-food outlets and public toilets, according to support workers.

There's a lot of occasions that we'll come across a client that is completely zonked out in the sun and they are red raw.

One man who has been sleeping at Fitzroy Gardens said the heat brought out what he described as ''weekend warriors''.

Youth Projects' Melanie Raymond said clients tell her ''people turn narky when it's really hot and they lash out''.

Drug safety outreach worker James Morgan said security guards would move people along because they looked homeless or drug-affected.

''There's a lot of occasions that we'll come across a client that is completely zonked out in the sun and they are red raw.''

Fairfax Media asked the operators of several airconditioned public places in Melbourne about their homelessness policies. A Melbourne Central spokeswoman said the issue was not relevant to the venue because only its stores were airconditioned.

The State Library of Victoria has an extensive list of bylaws, including that a person not ''wilfully disturb, annoy, offend, or obstruct any other person in the proper use of the library''.

''Otherwise, we certainly encourage people from all walks of life to come and enjoy this public space,'' a library spokeswoman said.

On Thursday morning Melbourne City Council announced they would provide the city's homeless with free access to their pools.

"They need to go to the Drill Hall or to the Salvos who can sort them out with a voucher as well as towels or bathers if they need," a spokeswoman said.

Ms Raymond said there should be an official hot weather plan for Melbourne's homeless that would be triggered by extreme temperatures.

Youth Projects' day drop-in centre offers free water, sunscreen and basic aid to rough sleepers. But its free medical clinic on Hosier Lane is already down to its last bottle of sunscreen.

The centre stays open up to five hours later on extreme heat days, but receives no extra funding from the Victorian government. ''So we're doing more with less,'' Ms Raymond said.

Rough sleeper Kieran said during the hot weather it became harder to maintain his sense of pride. ''Sorry to be gross about it but it's not like you can jump in the shower and change your undies.

''If I'm really on the nose people want to keep away from me. It does very little for my self-respect … and that's pretty much all I have on the streets.''

Players Are Fainting, Puking, And Hallucinating At The Australian Open

Dead Spin,

15 January, 2014

It is fucking hot in Melbourne. Temperatures soared to 108 degrees today, weather unfit for human existence, let alone playing world-class tennis. A short compilation of bad things to happen to tennis players so far at the first Grand Slam event of the year:

• Frank Dancevic collapsed during the second set of his match, lying unconscious on the court for a full minute. Dancevic says he was hallucinating before he fainted, and thought he saw a certain cartoon Beagle: "I was dizzy from the middle of the first set and then I saw Snoopy and I thought, 'Wow Snoopy, that’s weird.'"
• Peng Shuai vomited, then cramped up, and had to be helped off the court.
• Yaroslava Shvedova had to be covered in ice towels between sets of her match.
• Caroline Wozniacki placed her water bottle on the ground, and the bottom of it melted.
• The soles of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's sneakers melted.
• Jelena Jankovic burned her bottom on a seat.
• This ball boy fainted.

It's carnage, and organizers don't seem willing to do much about it. Officials have the authority to halt play and to close the roofs on the center and second courts, but have declined to do so. The only measures taken so far include giving women an extra 10-minute break, and reducing ball boy shifts from an hour to 45 minutes.

That's not enough, say some of the competitors.

"I think it's inhumane, I don't think it's fair to anybody, to the players, to the fans, to the sport, when you see players pulling out of matches, passing out," Frank Dancevic said. "Having players with so many problems and complaining to the tournament that it's too hot to play, until somebody dies, they're just keep going on with it and putting matches on in this heat. I personally don't think it's fair and I know a lot of players don't think it's fair."

Things are only going to get worse. Australia is in the midst of a heat wave, and triple-digit temperatures are forecast in Melbourne for the next three days.

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