Australia's economy suffering heat exhaustion

[Saigon]

As the town of Longreach records 13 days in a row of 40+C (104F), the BBC looks at what Australia might have to consider as it deals with record summer temperatures. There are several things here that I wouldn't have thought of - from re-scheduling sporting events like Australian Open tennis to changing working hours for people working outside to changing the nature of farming away from water-intensive products like wine and dairy.

'Australia has always suffered from bouts of extreme hot weather but the number and intensity of heatwaves is on the rise, prompting a rethink of how the country lives, works and plays in the sun.'

BBC News - Australia sweats over extreme hot weather

 

[Stephanie]

oh for crying out loud. Australia has always been hot

If they can't adjust to it getting a few degrees hotter then they go the way of the dinosaurs.

the sky is falling

 

[Saigon]

If they can't adjust to it getting a few degrees hotter then they go the way of the dinosaurs.

Absolutely, I totally agree.

And obviously when you are producing crops like bananas, pineapple, wine, milk, tomatoes or even fish farming (all major industries in Australia) then an increase of a few degrees can have a major impact in how the business operates.

Australians know all about hot weather - but what they have not experienced in the past are nationwide average temperatures of over 104F - the record set recently.

 

[Stephanie]

If they can't adjust to it getting a few degrees hotter then they go the way of the dinosaurs.

Absolutely, I totally agree.

And obviously when you are producing crops like bananas, pineapple, wine, milk, tomatoes or even fish farming (all major industries in Australia) then an increase of a few degrees can have a major impact in how the business operates.

Australians know all about hot weather - but what they have not experienced in the past are nationwide average temperatures of over 104F - the record set recently.

and your point? we are all going to burn up? maybe we need to kill a couple billion people to stop it?

 

[Saigon]

and your point? we are all going to burn up? maybe we need to kill a couple billion people to stop it?

Um....no....that's not my point, nor is it the point of anyone else.

The point is that Australia may need to restructure some industries to take climate change into consideration, and may also need to look at issues like working hours and the scheduling of sporting and cultural events as well.

It is very difficult to play tennis when it is 110F, for instance, so maybe the smart move would be to shift the Australian Tennis Open forward or backwards 2-3 months.

 

[Old Rocks]

The point is that obviously the climate is changing, and there are places where the change will create serious problems. The scientists have been pointing out for years that we have passed the point where we can prevent many of the results of adding the amount of GHGs to the atmosphere that we have. So now, we have to adjust.

And we can do that. But most of nature cannot. So many of our forests are going to burn, a good many species will go extinct. And we will be handing our descendants a world that is a much poorer place than the one we inherited.