Six Straight Days In Adelaide At 104F And Well Beyond - Consistent With Worst-Case Climate Outlooks

[hatrack]

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The South Australian capital is no stranger to the heat at this time of year -- more so than Melbourne, which buckled in similar heatwave conditions, and Sydney, where temperatures are on the rise this weekend. Adelaide is used to blistering summer weather. Last March, it endured a record 15 consecutive days of 35C-plus temperatures, a number above 40C.

Nearly 90 per cent of homes in the city are airconditioned to some extent. But this heatwave has been different in a number of ominous respects: those few extra degrees turned out to be fatal in many cases. Disoriented by the heat, one elderly person was found dead after switching the split system home airconditioner to heat. Horrified ambulance crews found others who became so heat-stressed they had swaddled themselves in winter clothing.

For the first time in 70 years, the mercury climbed well above 40C in Adelaide for six days in a row. This is consistent with some of the worst-case scenarios forecast for the eventual impact of climate change on the southern half of the continent.

There was little relief when the sun finally went down. After the temperature topped out at a near-record 45.8C on Wednesday, January 28, the overnight minimum was 33.9C, the highest such temperature recorded.

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After another sweltering night, with the temperature staying up around 30C, the scale of the emergency emerged, taxing already stretched emergency services to the limit.

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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25019291-11949,00.html

[kestrel91316]

1. Eventually extreme heat will kill off enough humans that our

CO2 output will drop to sustainable levels and the climate will get back in balance. Unfortunately a lot of suffering and pain lies between here and there.......

[aquart]

2. Or we could try birth control.

So that we don't have to watch our grandchildren starve to death.

[kestrel91316]

3. I have, and will not in the future have, any offspring. I've already done my part.

[pscot]

5. That's OK

Senator Inhofe has 20 children and grandchildren. More than enough to compensate for slackers like yourself.

[MineralMan]

4. But...but...but...it's really cold here in Minnesota.

That proves there's no global climate change, right? Right? And who cares what happens to Australia, anyhow? I mean, this is America, and we're doing just fine. Screw the rest of the planet, right?

Oh, wait...