It is 11pm and 24 degrees C (75F), which is at least an improvement on today's 34. But tomorrow we expect 41°C (105.8F). It's spring. My hottest Sydney day so far was 46°C (114.8F), there is a strong chance we will pass that this year. On a day that hot, if it is dry you cannot walk outside for more than a few hundred metres at a time because the moisture is sucked from your body and you need to seek out water or cool shade. You need to wear shoes with thick soles,or you will burn your feet. If it is humid, it is like walking through soup and you need to pack spare clothes, because at some point your clothes will become so clammy that you are unable to shed heat and you quickly sicken with heat exhaustion.
This is not usual heat for spring. It has spread across the continent. Four young people died in a bushfire in WA the day before yesterday, one a local farmer, the other three German backpackers. They had no hope in the wall of flame driven by the great wave of heat that is sweeping from west to east. They were kind people, out trying to save animals from the flames, but caught unawares by the fire's speed and ferocity.
The president of Kiribati is in Australia. He is begging our government to step away from its reliance on coal, because his country is sinking beneath rising waters. Our energy minister alleges there is a moral case for coal.
This year, as in most years for the past 15, more Australians will die from heat stress than have ever been killed by terrorism. It is yet right that we spend money to stop the evils of IS; it is, however, criminal that we spend money propping up the coal industry while killing the renewables industry in this country.
When I moved here, Australia was making millions from its developments in solar and wind power. Howard gutted the industry, which saw its top names move to California and China – where they now make billions and do not risk the future of Kiribati.
Tonight, I watered the garden and covered swathes of it in shade cloth. It will probably survive better than I do tomorrow.
This is not usual heat for spring. It has spread across the continent. Four young people died in a bushfire in WA the day before yesterday, one a local farmer, the other three German backpackers. They had no hope in the wall of flame driven by the great wave of heat that is sweeping from west to east. They were kind people, out trying to save animals from the flames, but caught unawares by the fire's speed and ferocity.
The president of Kiribati is in Australia. He is begging our government to step away from its reliance on coal, because his country is sinking beneath rising waters. Our energy minister alleges there is a moral case for coal.
This year, as in most years for the past 15, more Australians will die from heat stress than have ever been killed by terrorism. It is yet right that we spend money to stop the evils of IS; it is, however, criminal that we spend money propping up the coal industry while killing the renewables industry in this country.
When I moved here, Australia was making millions from its developments in solar and wind power. Howard gutted the industry, which saw its top names move to California and China – where they now make billions and do not risk the future of Kiribati.
Tonight, I watered the garden and covered swathes of it in shade cloth. It will probably survive better than I do tomorrow.
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