How deadly is 50-degree heat? Australia's cities face the new reality of climate change
Author: ABC NEWS Date Posted:4 October 2018
Buckled train tracks, grounded planes, melting bitumen and massive blackouts: the dystopian vision of the 50-degree city is closer to reality every day.
A recent study, led by Australian National University climate scientist Dr Sophie Lewis, speculated that 50C days could occur in Sydney and Melbourne within the next few decades.
"We have a number of systems within cities that we rely on — things like air conditioning, transport, even the asphalt is changed by extreme heat — and we don't actually know how we can cope with that in large cities.
"The way we are building cities, as higher density, highly engineered areas — you have to wonder at what point are we going to exceed those engineering constraints?"
