Heatwaves may be Australia’s deadliest climate threat, warn experts

Howden said city design also plays a major role, with leafy suburbs significantly cooler than areas dominated by concrete and asphalt.

“They can have several degrees of temperature reduction if you have well-designed buildings, leafy green suburbs with lots of evaporation, lots of shade,” he added.

Hospitals and energy systems are already feeling the strain, said the experts.

“If people are able to stay cool inside their workplace or home, (they will be) so much less likely to be exposed to the extreme conditions and therefore less likely to present to emergency departments,” Perkins-Kirkpatrick added.

As Australia braces for more extreme summers, she cautioned that policymakers need to strengthen the country’s public health infrastructure.

However, this needs to come with greater public awareness and education, she said.

“There’s still this sort of conversation in Australia: ‘So what it’s summer? It’s hot here. It’s always been hot here’. But our bodies don’t differentiate between that – if it’s extreme and if it’s going to affect us physiologically,” she added.

“We need to change that public perception here in Australia that we’re used to the extreme heat and it doesn’t affect us, because fundamentally, it really does.”