- Warning: Northern Australia will be unlivable
- Residents can only survive outside for six hours
Australia’s north will be ‘unliveable’ for decades to come as the heat and humidity will be so intense it will be fatal to humans, experts have warned.
They say the deadly heat will occur at certain times of the year, making it impossible for people to be outside for more than six hours.
Climate scientist Bill Hare said areas such as Broome and Katherine, as well as parts of Asia and Africa, would soon be unliveable if temperatures rose by just 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“You wouldn’t be able to enjoy Cable Beach for much of the year,” he said.
‘We are already seeing small periods of deadly heat in South Asia, West Asia and South East Asia, where deaths have already been reported.
Australia’s north will be ‘unliveable’ for decades to come as heat and humidity will be so intense it will be fatal to humans, experts warn (stock image)
They say the deadly heat will occur at certain times of the year, making it impossible for people to be outside for more than six hours (stock image)
“It’s already approaching the limit of human viability.”
Mr Hare is Managing Director and Senior Scientist at Climate Analytics – a global climate science and policy institute supporting climate action aligned to the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit.
In 2003, a study published in the scientific journal Comptes Rendus Biologies found that more than 70,000 people died in Europe from deadly heat.
It was the hottest summer in Europe since 1540, leading to drought, food shortages and tens of thousands of deaths.
Mr Hare said scientists for cities like Perth, which is currently experiencing the longest period of dry heat and no rain, do not expect a deadly combination of humidity and heat in the next 25 years, but northern parts of Australia do.
He said some areas in the Kimberley region had already felt small bursts of deadly heat, killing livestock and native animals.
“It will happen slowly and gradually, the weather will become really extreme and it will continue to get worse,” Mr Hare said.
“There is only one way to limit this damage, but you are not going to eliminate it, people will have to adapt to it.”
Mr Hare said that for cities like Perth, which is currently experiencing the longest period of dry heat and no rain, scientists do not expect a deadly combination of humidity and heat in the next 25 years, but that northern parts of Australia would.
Climate scientist Bill Hare said northern parts of Australia will experience deadly heat in the coming decades, making areas like Broome unliveable at certain times of the year.
Mr Hare said carbon emissions must be reduced by 50 per cent over the next decade and Australia must reach net zero by 2050.
“Over the past decade, the largest increases in carbon dioxide and global warming have come from fossil fuel emissions,” he said.
‘Coal is being phased out, and the same should apply to gas: it should already be decreasing.
‘The federal government must stop supporting gas and go full throttle in supporting renewable energy sources.
“They talk about Australia being a green energy superpower, but it also doesn’t address the changing energy market.”
A spokesperson for Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the government had introduced policies over the past 22 months that would put Australia on track to meet its 2030 emissions reduction target of 43 percent.
This year’s federal budget has allocated $22.7 billion to build industries in Australia, such as green hydrogen, critical minerals and solar energy production, that would support decarbonization here and around the world, according to the spokesman.