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6 reasons why global temperatures are spiking right now

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-king-103126">Andrew King</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> The world is very warm right now. We’re not only seeing record temperatures, but the records are being broken by record-wide margins. Take the preliminary September global-average temperature anomaly of 1.7°C above pre-industrial levels, for example. It’s an incredible 0.5°C above the previous record. So why is the world so incredibly hot right now? And what does it mean for keeping our Paris Agreement targets? Here are six contributing factors – with climate change the main reason temperatures are so high. <h2>1. El Niño</h2> One reason for the exceptional heat is we are in a <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/#tabs=Pacific-Ocean">significant El Niño</a> that is still strengthening. During El Niño we see warming of the surface ocean over much of the tropical Pacific. This warming, and the effects of El Niño in other parts of the world, raises global average temperatures by <a href="https://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2023/01/2022-updates-to-the-temperature-records/">about 0.1 to 0.2°C</a>. Taking into account the fact we’ve just come out of a triple La Niña, which cools global average temperatures slightly, and the fact this is the first major El Niño in eight years, it’s not too surprising we’re seeing unusually high temperatures at the moment. Still, El Niño alone isn’t enough to explain the crazily high temperatures the world is experiencing. <h2>2. Falling pollution</h2> Air pollution from human activities cools the planet and has offset some of the warming caused by humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions. There have been efforts to reduce this pollution – since 2020 there has been an <a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/news/imo-advances-measures-to-reduce-emissions-from-international-shipping/">international agreement</a> to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions from the global shipping industry. It has been speculated this cleaner air has contributed to the recent heat, particularly over the record-warm <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/record-breaking-north-atlantic-ocean-temperatures-contribute-extreme-marine-heatwaves">north Atlantic</a> and Pacific regions with high shipping traffic. It’s likely this is contributing to the extreme high global temperatures – but only on the order of hundredths of a degree. <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-how-low-sulphur-shipping-rules-are-affecting-global-warming/">Recent analysis</a> suggests the effect of the 2020 shipping agreement is about an extra 0.05°C warming by 2050. <h2>3. Increasing solar activity</h2> While falling pollution levels mean more of the Sun’s energy reaches Earth’s surface, the amount of the energy the Sun emits is itself variable. There are different solar cycles, but an 11-year cycle is the most relevant one to today’s climate. The Sun is becoming <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/14/world/solar-maximum-activity-2024-scn/index.html">more active</a> from a minimum in late 2019. This is also contributing a small amount to the spike in global temperatures. Overall, increasing solar activity is contributing only hundredths of a degree at most to the recent global heat. <h2>4. Water vapour from Hunga Tonga eruption</h2> On January 15 2022 the underwater <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26006-hunga-tonga-hunga-haapai-eruption">Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupted</a> in the South Pacific Ocean, sending large amounts of water vapour high up into the upper atmosphere. Water vapour is a greenhouse gas, so increasing its concentration in the atmosphere in this way does intensify the greenhouse effect. Even though the eruption happened almost two years ago, it’s still having a small warming effect on the planet. However, as with the reduced pollution and increasing solar activity, we’re talking about hundredths of a degree. <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6oANPi-SWN0?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>5. Bad luck</h2> We see variability in global temperatures from one year to the next even without factors like El Niño or major changes in pollution. Part of the reason this September was so extreme was likely due to weather systems being in the right place to heat the land surface. When we have persistent high-pressure systems over land regions, as seen recently over places like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/01/autumn-heat-continues-in-europe-after-record-breaking-september">western Europe</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-19/australia-weather-september-heat-records-tumble/102870294">Australia</a>, we see local temperatures rise and the conditions for unseasonable heat. As water requires more energy to warm and the ocean moves around, we don’t see the same quick response in temperatures over the seas when we have high-pressure systems. The positioning of weather systems warming up many land areas coupled with persistent ocean heat is likely a contributor to the global-average heat too. <h2>6. Climate change</h2> By far the biggest contributor to the overall +1.7°C global temperature anomaly is human-caused climate change. Overall, humanity’s effect on the climate has been a global warming of <a href="https://www.globalwarmingindex.org/">about 1.2°C</a>. The record-high rate of greenhouse gas emissions means we should expect global warming to accelerate too. While humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions explain the trend seen in September temperatures over many decades, they don’t really explain the big difference from last September (when the greenhouse effect was almost as strong as it is today) and September 2023. Much of the difference between this year and last comes back to the switch from La Niña to El Niño, and the right weather systems in the right place at the right time. <h2>The upshot: we need to accelerate climate action</h2> September 2023 shows that with a combination of climate change and other factors aligning we can see alarmingly high temperatures. These anomalies may appear to be above the 1.5°C global warming level referred to in the Paris Agreement, but that’s about keeping <a href="https://climateanalytics.org/briefings/understanding-the-paris-agreements-long-term-temperature-goal/">long-term global warming</a> to low levels and not individual months of heat. But we are seeing the effects of climate change unfolding more and more clearly. The most vulnerable are suffering the biggest impacts as wealthier nations continue to emit the largest proportion of greenhouse gases. Humanity must accelerate the path to net zero to prevent more record-shattering global temperatures and damaging extreme events.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215140/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-king-103126">Andrew King</a>, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/6-reasons-why-global-temperatures-are-spiking-right-now-215140">original article</a>.

Travel Trouble

Big hair? Bald? How much difference your hair really makes to keep you cool or warm

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/theresa-larkin-952095">Theresa Larkin</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-wollongong-711">University of Wollongong</a> We have <a href="https://theconversation.com/health-check-why-does-womens-hair-thin-out-39126">millions</a> of hair follicles on our body, including around 100,000 on our scalp. This might sound like a lot of hair, yet humans are described as “hairless”. We have evolved to be the only mammals with a relatively hairless body, but still with scalp hair. So how does your hair affect your body temperature when it’s hot or cold? Compared with other animals, our hair does not have as much influence on keeping us warm or cool as you might think. <h2>Essential to our survival</h2> Our brain function and body’s metabolism depend on an optimal temperature of around 37℃. Thermoregulation maintains this body temperature, even when we are exposed to a hotter or colder external temperature. For non-human mammals, body hair or fur plays a role in protecting against environmental cold or heat. For instance, a heavy fur coat helps keep a polar bear <a href="https://polarbearsinternational.org/polar-bears-changing-arctic/polar-bear-facts/adaptions-characteristics/">warm</a> in the cold. But fur also keeps an animal cool in the heat because it can <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25064866">absorb or reflect</a> radiant heat. Scientists think this is why humans have kept hair on our heads. Our heads are exposed to the most heat from the sun, and scalp hair keeps our heads cool. Research published just last week <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2301760120">suggests</a> curly hair provides the best heat protection. That’s because curly hair’s thicker layer of insulation reduces the amount of sun that reaches the scalp. <h2>But hair is not the only factor</h2> When humans moved from living in the jungle to the savannah, they needed to walk and run long distances in the sun. This meant they needed a way to handle the increased body temperature that comes with physical activity in the heat. Sweating is the best way to lose heat and cool down, but the presence of hair reduces sweating and heat loss from the skin. So humans evolved to <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1113915108">lose body hair</a> to be better adapted to exercising in the heat. Fewer hair follicles in our skin made room for more sweat glands. This made our skin optimal for sweat evaporation – and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-keep-cool-on-hot-summer-days-heres-how-34489">heat loss</a> that goes with it – to keep us cool. <h2>So what’s best in the heat?</h2> You might think removing body hair or having a bald head is best for sweating and keeping cool when exercising in the heat. However, it’s not that simple. Removing head hair would increase the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2301760120">amount of sun</a> that reaches your scalp. This means you would need to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20683812/">sweat more</a> during exercise in the sun to reduce an increase in body temperature, but not by much. In fact, it’s the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4667044/#:%7E:text=The%20body%20hair%20is%20advantageous,heat%20removal%20during%20heat%20stress.">least hairy</a> areas of our body that have the highest sweat rates during exercise. These are our forehead, neck, feet and hands. So the best way to keep cool in the heat is to keep these areas uncovered (but still use sunscreen). Removing body hair will not have a large impact on your overall sweat rate. <h2>How about when it’s cold?</h2> Our body hair and head hair theoretically have a role in keeping us warm, but the effects are minimal. When we are cold, the muscles of the hair follicles on the body contract to cause the hairs to stand straight. This is an attempt to trap heat close to the body and we see this as goosebumps. However, because our body hair is so thin, this does not have a big effect in keeping us warm. Our head hair can prevent some heat loss from the head, but again this is limited. When it’s cold, heat can still be lost through the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4667044/#:%7E:text=The%20body%20hair%20is%20advantageous,heat%20removal%20during%20heat%20stress.">skin of the head</a> regardless of your hairstyle. The scalp also has only a very thin layer of fat compared to the rest of our skin, so our head has less insulation to protect against the cold. A warm hat or beanie is the only way to prevent too much heat lost from the head. <h2>In a nutshell</h2> Our head and body hair, or lack of it, does have a small role in how you maintain your body temperature. But overall, your hairstyle does not influence whether you feel warm or cool.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201380/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/theresa-larkin-952095">Theresa Larkin</a>, Associate professor of Medical Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-wollongong-711">University of Wollongong</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-hair-bald-how-much-difference-your-hair-really-makes-to-keep-you-cool-or-warm-201380">original article</a>.

Beauty & Style

Stop your makeup melting in the heat

Party season and soaring temperatures mean one thing – melting makeup! Make sure you don’t end up looking like Alice Cooper this summer with our guide to a face that stays put even when the mercury rises. Blank canvas Exfoliate so that your face is ultra-smooth and products will stay on evenly, rather than migrating to one particularly dry area. After your usual moisturizer, make sure you apply SPF30+ or SPF50+ sunscreen. After all, there’s no point in going to all this trouble if you’re just going to end up looking like a tomato anyway! Then use a primer to take away shine. Another layer might seem counter-productive, but you can imagine what happens to make-up that’s applied to a slippery surface. Dare to bare Too much powder and sweat aren’t a good mix, literally. Powders can clog and looked caked when we start to ‘glow’ on scorching days. Similarly, long-lasting foundations can be too heavy and textured and look too much like make-up. Instead, opt for a light coverage foundation or illuminating tinted moisturiser to keep your look sheer and natural. Cheeks Using a brush, apply a cream blush to the apples of your cheeks. The beauty of a cream blush is that if it starts to budge, you can just blend it back in with your finger. Go easy on the bronzer. Use a shade that’s just one shade darker than your natural skin tone and apply it only where the sun would naturally catch your face. Eye Smokey eyes soon become raccoon eyes in the heat, so keep the natural look going with a creamy, slightly shimmery eye shadow in a coppery shade. Stick-style shadows stay in place very well and are easy to reapply on-the-go. Liquid eyeliner is best avoided in the heat. Use a pencil or at least a waterproof formulation. To avoid your eyebrows melting, go for a light pencil rather than a wax, then finish your eyes with waterproof mascara. Lips Thick gloss can feel a bit gloopy when the temperatures soar, and a heavy lipstick will overwhelm the natural look on your eyes and cheeks. Try a light chubby-stick style lip stain or a tinted lip balm with SPF in it to provide sheer colour and sun protection in one. Staying power It’s really important to ‘set’ your face after you’ve applied it, but it’s a fine line between setting it and adding powder that’s just going to cake. Use a good quality translucent powder just on your T-zone. A little goes a long way so dab it on the back of your hand first, then apply from there. Finally, keep some blotting papers in your handbag. Blotting papers don’t just mattify shine- they actually soak up excess oil and sweat, so they’re perfect for hot days! Image credits: Getty Images

Beauty & Style

Warming oceans may force New Zealand’s sperm and blue whales to shift to cooler southern waters

The world’s oceans are absorbing more than <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/ocean-impacts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">90% of the excess heat and energy</a> generated by rising greenhouse gas emissions. But, as the oceans keep warming, rising sea temperatures generate unprecedented cascading effects that include the melting of polar ice, rising seas, marine heatwaves and ocean acidification. This in turn has profound impacts on marine biodiversity and the lives and livelihoods of coastal communities, especially in island nations such as New Zealand. In our latest <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22007075?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a>, we focused on great whales – sperm and blue whales in particular. They are crucial for maintaining healthy marine ecosystems, but have limited options to respond to climate change: either adapt, die, or move to stay within optimal habitats. We used mathematical models to predict how they are likely to respond to warming seas by the end of the century. Our results show a clear southward shift for both species, mostly driven by rising temperatures at the sea surface. <h2>Computing the fate of whales</h2> Data on the local abundance of both whales species are <a href="https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v690/p201-217/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deficient</a>, but modelling provides a powerful tool to predict how their range is likely to shift. We used a <a href="http://macroecointern.dk/pdf-reprints/AraujoNew2007.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">combination of mathematical models</a> (known as correlative species distribution models) to predict the future range shifts of these whale species as a response to three future climate change scenarios of differing severity, as outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (<a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IPCC</a>). We applied these models, using the whales’ present distributions, to build a set of environmental “rules” that dictate where each species can live. Using climate-dependent data such as sea-surface temperature and chlorophyll A (a measure of phytoplankton growth), as well as static data such as water depth and distance to shore, we applied these rules to forecast future habitat suitability. We chose a scenario of “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00177-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">modest</a>” response to cutting greenhouse gas emissions (the IPCC’s mitigation strategy RCP4.5), which is the most likely given the current policies, and a worst-case scenario (no policy to cut emissions, RCP8.5), assuming the reality will likely be somewhere between the two. Our projections suggest current habitats in the ocean around the North Island may become unsuitable if sea-surface temperatures continue to rise. These range shifts become even stronger with increasing severity of climate change. For sperm whales, which are currently abundant off Kaikōura where they support eco-tourism businesses, the predicted distribution changes are even more evident than for blue whales, depending on the climate change scenario. While our results do not predict an overall reduction in suitable habitat that would lead to local extinctions, the latitudinal range shifts are nevertheless bound to have important ecological consequences for New Zealand’s marine ecosystems and the people who depend on them. <h2>How whales maintain ecosystems</h2> Great whales are marine ecosystem engineers. They modify their habitats (or create new ones), to suit their needs. In fact, these activities create conditions that other species rely on to survive. They engineer their environment on several fronts. By feeding in one place and releasing their faeces in another, whales convey minerals and other nutrients such as nitrogen and iron from the deep water to the surface, as well as across regions. This process, known as a “<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0013255" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whale pump</a>”, makes these nutrients available for phytoplankton and other organisms to grow. This is very important because phytoplankton contributes about <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/plankton-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">half of all oxygen to the atmosphere</a> and also captures <a href="https://www.imf.org/Publications/fandd/issues/2019/12/natures-solution-to-climate-change-chami" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about 40% of all released carbon dioxide</a>. By helping the growth of phytoplankton, whales indirectly contribute to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/tiny-plankton-drive-processes-in-the-ocean-that-capture-twice-as-much-carbon-as-scientists-thought-136599" target="_blank" rel="noopener">natural ocean carbon sink</a>. On top of this, each great whale accumulates about <a href="https://www.arcticwwf.org/the-circle/stories/protecting-the-earth-by-protecting-whales/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">33 tonnes of carbon dioxide in their body</a>, which they take to the ocean floor when they die and their carcass sinks. <figure></figure> Ultimately, the impact of warming oceans on whale distribution is an additional stress factor on ecosystems already under pressure from wider threats, including acidification, pollution and over-exploitation. <h2>A way forward to help whales</h2> Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales (odontocetes) and deep-diving apex predators. They primarily feed on squid and fish that live near the bottom of the sea. Blue whales are baleen whales (mysticetes) and filter small organisms from the water. They feed at the surface on zooplankton, particularly dense krill schools along coastlines where cold water from the deep ocean rises toward the surface (so-called <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/upwelling.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">upwelling areas</a>). These differences in feeding habits lead to divergent responses to ocean warming. Blue whales show a more distinct southerly shift than sperm whales, particularly in the worst-case scenario, likely because they feed at the surface where ocean warming will be more exacerbated than in the deep sea. Both species have important foraging grounds off New Zealand which may be compromised in the future. Sperm whales are currently occurring regularly off Kaikōura, while blue whales forage in the South Taranaki Bight. Despite these ecological differences, our results show that some future suitable areas around the South Island and offshore islands are common to both species. These regions could be considered sanctuaries for both species to retreat to or expand their habitat in a warming world. This should warrant <a href="https://environment.govt.nz/assets/Publications/Files/Environmental-Report-Card-Marine-Areas-with-Legal-protection_0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased protection of these areas</a>. This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/warming-oceans-may-force-new-zealands-sperm-and-blue-whales-to-shift-to-cooler-southern-waters-188522" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Travel Trouble

Heat yourself, not your house: how to survive winter with a 15℃ indoor temperature

How high should you put the heating up over winter? If you don’t mind the bills and ecological impact, you have the encouragement of the World Health Organization to keep the house warm. They recommend an indoor temperature of <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/275839/WHO-CED-PHE-18.03-eng.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at least 18°</a>, declaring that you face health risks at lower temperatures. This advice is echoed by the <a href="https://www.energy.gov.au/households/household-guides/seasonal-advice/winter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian government</a>. The tone of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535294" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some reports</a> is monitory and severe. Based on these instructions, anyone would feel a reflex to bump up the thermostat. But before you brace for the bill-shock amid soaring energy prices, consider a different approach. Some people cope positively with the freeze and others face deep winter with panic. Given the range of psychological responses, I can only imagine there would be a difference in how people’s health would fare. If I’m full of dread at the prospect of feeling chilly, this stress could aggravate existing health issues. It is entirely possible to avoid heating your entire house to 18℃ to stay warm. If you view your cold house as a project, you can take pleasure in the power of staying warm in your modern cave, while remembering that we evolved to withstand the cold with fewer options than we have today. Staying warm in a cold house Over the last couple of winters, I’ve discovered many strategies for comfortable living at lower room temperatures. To add to traditional methods such as multiple layers of clothing and physical activity, there are now excellent appliances to fend off the chill. Personal heating devices have become rightly popular, such as electrical heated throw rugs to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/90022948" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warm your clothing</a> rather than ambient air. These new devices – think a more flexible electric blanket – are extremely efficient. Canberra energy efficiency enthusiast David Southgate found using these devices rather than heating the air <a href="https://southgateaviation.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/2019-annual-report-v2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cut his heating bill</a> by 95%. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472222/original/file-20220704-18-sz6rcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472222/original/file-20220704-18-sz6rcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472222/original/file-20220704-18-sz6rcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472222/original/file-20220704-18-sz6rcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472222/original/file-20220704-18-sz6rcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472222/original/file-20220704-18-sz6rcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472222/original/file-20220704-18-sz6rcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472222/original/file-20220704-18-sz6rcn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="electric throw" /></a><figcaption>Electric throw rugs and other personal heating devices are gaining popularity. Shutterstock</figcaption></figure> Personally, I have found adequate clothing makes a temperature of 15℃ acceptable. In fact, dressing warmly poses more risk of overheating with low levels of activity. It’s satisfying to create your own warmth rather than rely on artificially supplied warmth. You start to notice thermodynamic properties of clothing that you’d never appreciate by relying on a thermostat. If you wear a hooded gown, you’ll find not only that your ears are warm from being covered, but your uncovered face becomes flushed. That’s because warmth generated by your body wafts upward to escape through the aperture of the hood. As a result, the air that you breathe is also warm. When it comes to clothing, we can equate warmth simply with insulation. In turn, we assess the insulating qualities of textiles with their thickness or <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/warmest-materials-fabrics-winter-clothing/101155486" target="_blank" rel="noopener">air-trapping abilities</a>. We often tend to overlook the design of the clothing, which plays a key role in funnelling body warmth to exposed skin. The archetype of the hood was known two millennia before thermostats in both Greece (the garments μαφόρτης and κάλυμμα) and Rome (the garments cucullus, lacerna and tunica palliolata). They’re just as effective today. Wearing a cowl won’t warm up your hands; but if the rest of you is warm – especially your feet – your exposed hands will benefit by the circulation. For anyone unconvinced by this assurance, fingerless gloves are a backstop. The way medical science has catastrophised indoor temperatures lower than 18℃ wouldn’t be so bad if it were only incurious and unimaginative. Alas, there are alarming ecological consequences of a population believing that they’ll automatically get sick in the cold. Carbon emissions from domestic heating are significant. You get a picture from gas bills in Queensland, which go up 1.4 times from summer to winter. In colder states, the figure is <a href="https://www.energycouncil.com.au/analysis/winter-energy-bills-avoid-a-shock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">much higher</a>: 3.5 times in Victoria and 5.2 times in nippy Tasmania. We have to scrutinise if we really need our thermostats pegged at 18℃. Before we accept recommendations on indoor temperatures by medical authorities, we need to know if the science has grappled with different experiences of cold. Future research must distinguish between people in a cool room who feel cold and miserable or feel protected against cold by a range of practical measures. Understanding the effect of these variables is urgent, because current authoritative guidance pushes us into heating our houses more than we have to. For most of the world, that means burning fossil fuel.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185587/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/robert-nelson-1355694" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Robert Nelson</a>, Honorary Principal Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The University of Melbourne</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/heat-yourself-not-your-house-how-to-survive-winter-with-a-15-indoor-temperature-185587" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Home Hints & Tips

Young girl fights for life after being left on bus in roasting temperatures

A three-year-old has been left fighting for her life after she was found unresponsive from being on a daycare bus outside a Queensland childcare centre for nearly six hours. Temperatures in Rockhampton reached 28 C on Wednesday, and it’s believed that three-year-old Nevaeh Austib had been on the bus - parked outside the Le Smileys Early Learning Centre near Rockhampton - since she was picked up from her family’s home at 9am. She was found unconscious at approximately 3pm and rushed to Rockhampton hospital in critical condition. Nevaeh’s father, Shane Austin, told the <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/rockhampton/child-found-in-critical-condition-on-bus-at-le-smileys-early-learning-centre-on-lucas-street-in-gracemere/news-story/c86e5ffa4a41f1c4d6ef8631fe547f25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Courier Mail</a> his little girl has since been taken to a Brisbane hospital to undergo a deep brain scan and treatment for potential kidney failure. “She’s the most loudest little girl they tell me … she’s the heart of the daycare,” he said. The childcare centre has remained closed as of Thursday morning. Jason Thompson, the operations manager for Queensland Ambulance’s Central Region service, told media on Wednesday that Nevaeh was found “unresponsive” and described the situation as “traumatic” for those who treated her, per <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10783585/Karl-Stefanovic-breaks-girl-fights-life-left-daycare-bus-Rockhampton.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Mail</a>. “On the crew’s arrival Queensland Police were already on scene and escorted the crew into the childcare centre where the young child was on the floor in the admin room,” he said. Police have launched an investigation into the incident and interviewed the daycare staff, according to <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/child-critical-after-being-left-on-central-queensland-bus-rockhampton/7cb7646c-350e-4cf5-908e-0d0f7d69f58d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9News</a>. It comes just two years after Muriel Namok’s three-year-old son died after being left on a minibus by childcare staff for a similar amount of time in Cairns. Ms Namok appeared on the Today Show on Thursday morning and shared her anger at Nevaeh’s situation, saying it made her “sick to her stomach”. “It’s just too tragic. Again, why?” she told co-hosts Ally Langdon and Karl Stefanovic. “This is terrible. “I feel really sick to my stomach. Angry. I know this feeling too well.” <img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/05/karl-nevaeh.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /> Today show hosts Karl Stefanovic and Ally Langdon fought back tears after speaking to the mum who lost her son in a similar situation. Image: Nine She said that parents should be able to trust that their children are safe in childcare centres, and that the centres need to take responsibility when things go wrong. “They are taking our children and we are trusting them to bring them back,” Ms Namok said. “For this to happen, they need to be held accountable.” After speaking to the grieving mum, who broke down as the interview ended, both Stefanovic and Langdon were fighting back tears live on air. “It’s horrendous,” Stefanovic said. “There’s nothing else to say to that,” Langdon added. “And that poor family. It really shouldn’t happen.” Image: Nine

News

This WA town just topped 50℃ – a dangerous temperature many Australians will have to get used to

While Australians are used to summer heat, most of us only have to endure the occasional day over 40℃. Yesterday though, the temperature <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-13/onslow-in-the-pilbara-equals-australias-hottest-day-on-record/100754082">peaked at 50.7℃</a> in Onslow, a small Western Australian town around 100km from Exmouth. Remarkably, the town sits right next to the ocean, which usually provides cooling. By contrast, the infamously hot WA town of Marble Bar has <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-01/marble-bar-christmas-hottest-town-australia/100731946">only reached 49.6℃</a> this summer, despite its inland location. If confirmed, the Onslow temperature would equal Australia’s hottest on record <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/oodnadatta-holds-the-record-for-australias-hottest-temperature-and-it-looks-set-to-get-even-warmer/news-story/36a0585310acc37be3d14674569526a3">set in Oodnadatta</a>, South Australia, in January 1960. It would also mark only the fourth day over 50℃ for an Australian location since reliable observations began. Unfortunately, this extreme heat is becoming more common as the world heats up. The number of days over 50℃ has <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58494641">doubled since the 1980s</a>. These dangerous temperatures are now being <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/aug/13/halfway-boiling-city-50c">recorded more often</a> – not just in Australia but in cities in Pakistan, India and the Persian Gulf. This poses real threats to the health of people enduring them. <h2>Where did the heat come from?</h2> Hitting such extreme temperatures requires heat to build up over several days. Onslow’s temperatures had been <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=122&p_display_type=dailyDataFile&p_stn_num=005017&p_startYear=">close to average</a> since a couple of heatwaves struck the Pilbara in the second half of December. So where did this unusual heat come from? <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440801/original/file-20220113-19-77sy3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440801/original/file-20220113-19-77sy3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> This weather chart from 13th January 2022 illustrates the conditions just half an hour before the record-equalling 50.7℃ was recorded. The blue dashed line marks the trough which meets the coast close to Onslow and helped bring in the hot air. Bureau of Meteorology In short, from the bakingly hot desert. South to south-easterly winds blew very hot air from the interior of the state up to Onslow. The wind came from an area that has had little to no rainfall since November, so the very hot air was also extremely dry. Dry air kept the sun beating at full intensity by preventing any cloud cover or storm formation. The result? The temperature rose and rose through the morning and early afternoon, and the temperature spiked at over 50℃ just before 2.30pm local time. <h2>Aren’t we in a cooler La Niña period?</h2> Australia’s weather is strongly linked to conditions in the Pacific Ocean. At the moment we’re in <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/">a La Niña event</a> where we have cooler than normal ocean temperatures near the equator in the central and east Pacific. La Niña is typically associated with cooler, wetter conditions. But its effects on Australian weather are <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/about/?bookmark=lanina">strongest in spring</a>, when we had unusually <a href="https://theconversation.com/back-so-soon-la-nina-heres-why-were-copping-two-soggy-summers-in-a-row-173684">wet and cool conditions</a> over the east of the continent. During summer the relationship between La Niña and Australian weather usually weakens, with its strongest impacts normally confined to the northeast of the continent. During La Niña we typically see fewer and less intense heatwaves across much of eastern Australia, but the intensity of heat extremes in Western Australia is <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2015JD023592">not very different </a>between La Niña and El Niño. The pattern of extreme heat in Western Australia and flooding in parts of Queensland is fairly typical of a La Niña summer, although temperatures over 50℃ are extremely rare. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440812/original/file-20220114-23-1b2bb55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="men pump water from flooded street" /> Recent flooding in Queensland is also typical of La Nina summers. RAPID RELIEF TEAM <h2>Climate change is cranking up the heat</h2> Should these temperatures be a surprise? Sadly, no. Australia has warmed by <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/state-of-the-climate/australias-changing-climate.shtml">around 1.4℃ since 1910</a>, well ahead of the <a href="https://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20220113/">global average of 1.1℃</a>. In northern Australia, summer-average temperatures have not <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/#tabs=Tracker&tracker=trend-maps&tQ=map%3Dtmean%26area%3Daus%26season%3D1202%26period%3D1930">risen as much</a> as other parts of the country, because summers in the Top End have also got wetter. That’s in line with climate change models. When the conditions are right in the Pilbara, however, heat is significantly more extreme than it used to be. Heat events in the region have become <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020EF001924">more frequent, more intense, and longer-lasting</a>, just as in most other regions. Most of us have chosen not to live in Australia’s hottest areas. So you might think you don’t need to worry about 50℃ heatwaves. But as the climate continues to warm, heatwave conditions are expected to become much more common and extreme across the continent. In urban areas, roads and concrete soak up the sun’s heat, raising maximum temperatures by several degrees and making for dangerous conditions. Even if we keep global warming below 2℃ in line with the Paris Agreement, we can still expect to see our first <a href="https://science.anu.edu.au/news-events/news/melbourne-and-sydney-should-prepare-50-degree-days">50℃ days in Sydney and Melbourne</a> in coming years. In January 2020 the Western Sydney suburb of Penrith came very close, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/sydney-s-penrith-the-hottest-place-on-earth-amid-devastating-bushfires/990f7843-278b-4973-90ab-b6dcb01c97aa">reaching 48.9℃</a>. <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440813/original/file-20220114-19-defesm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="man holds child in front of cooling mist machine" /> Sydney and Melbourne will experience 50℃ days in coming years. Joe Castro/AAP As you know, it’s going to be very hard to achieve even keeping global warming below 2℃, given the need to urgently slash greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade. As it stands, the world’s actions on emission reduction suggest we are actually on track for around <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/global/cat-thermometer/">2.7℃ of warming</a>, which would see <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-end-to-the-damage-humans-can-wreak-on-the-climate-this-is-how-bad-its-likely-to-get-166031">devastating consequences</a> for life on Earth. We already know what we need to do to prevent this frightening future. The stronger the action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally – including by major carbon emitting countries such as Australia – the less the world will warm and the less Australian heat extremes will intensify. That’s because the relationships between greenhouse gas emissions, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16542">global temperatures</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-12520-2">Australian heat extremes</a> are roughly linear. You may think Australians are good at surviving the heat. But the climate you were born in doesn’t exist any more. Sadly, our farms, wildlife, and suburbs will struggle to cope with the extreme heat projected for coming decades. Let’s work to make this 50℃ record an outlier – and not the new normal.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174909/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrew-king-103126">Andrew King</a>, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-wa-town-just-topped-50-a-dangerous-temperature-many-australians-will-have-to-get-used-to-174909">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Domestic Travel

Deforestation can raise local temperatures by up to 4.5℃ – and heat untouched areas 6km away

Forests directly cool the planet, like natural evaporative air conditioners. So what happens when you cut them down? In tropical countries such as Indonesia, Brazil and the Congo, rapid deforestation <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate3250">may have accounted for</a> up to 75% of the observed surface warming between 1950 and 2010. <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac2fdc">Our new research</a> took a closer look at this phenomenon. Using satellite data over Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, we found deforestation can heat a local area by as much as 4.5℃, and can even raise temperatures in undisturbed forests up to 6km away. More than 40% of the world’s population live in the tropics and, under climate change, rising heat and humidity could push them into <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00695-3">lethal conditions</a>. Keeping forests intact is vital to protect those who live in and around them as the planet warms. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431859/original/file-20211115-13-g3akke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431859/original/file-20211115-13-g3akke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Trees provide shade, habitat, and regulate the supply of clean water. Shutterstock <h2>Deforestation hot spots</h2> At the recent climate change summit in Glasgow, world leaders representing 85% of Earth’s remaining forests committed to ending, and reversing, <a href="https://ukcop26.org/glasgow-leaders-declaration-on-forests-and-land-use/">deforestation by 2030</a>. This is a crucial measure in our fight to stop the planet warming beyond the internationally agreed limit of 1.5℃, because forests store vast amounts of carbon. Deforestation releases this carbon – <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2019.0120">approximately 5.2</a> billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year – back into the atmosphere. This accounts for nearly 10% of the global emissions from 2009-2016. Deforestation is <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aax8574">particularly prevalent</a> in Southeast Asia. <a href="https://data.globalforestwatch.org/documents/14228e6347c44f5691572169e9e107ad/explore">We calculate</a> that between 2000 and 2019, Indonesia lost 17% of its forested area (26.8 million hectares of land), and Malaysia 28% of its forest cover (8.12 million hectares). Others in the region, such as Papua New Guinea, are considered “<a href="https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/forests_practice/deforestation_fronts_/">deforestation hot spots</a>”, as they’re at high risk of losing their forest cover in the coming decade. Forests in this region are cut down for a variety of reasons, including for expanding palm oil and timber plantations, logging, mining and small-scale farms. And these new types of land uses produce different spatial patterns of forest loss, which we can see and measure using satellites. <h2>What we found</h2> We already know forests cool the climate directly, and losing forest causes local temperatures to rise. But we wanted to learn whether the different patterns of forest loss influenced how much temperatures increased by, and how far warming spread from the deforested site into neighbouring, unchanged areas. To find out, <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac2fdc">we used</a> satellite images that measure the temperature of the land surface. As the illustration below shows, we measured this by averaging forest loss in rings of different widths and radius, and looking at the average temperature change of the forest inside the ring. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431019/original/file-20211109-27-mpcx2l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431019/original/file-20211109-27-mpcx2l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Illustration of how temperature changes due to forest loss." /></a> How forest clearing near an unchanged area causes temperatures to rise. For example, if you consider a circle of forest that’s 4km wide, and there’s a completely deforested, 2km-wide ring around it, the inner circle would warm on average by 1.2℃. The closer the forest loss, the higher the warming. If the ring was 1-2km away, the circle would warm by 3.1℃, while at 4-6km away, it’s 0.75℃. These might not sound like big increases in temperature, but global studies show <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/35/9326.short">for each 1℃ increase in temperature</a>, yields of major crops would decline by around 3-7%. Retaining forest within 1km of agricultural land in Southeast Asia could therefore avoid crop losses of 10-20%. These estimates are conservative, because we only measured the effect of forest loss on average yearly temperatures. But another important factor is that higher average temperatures <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2011JD016382">usually create</a> higher temperature extremes, like those during heatwaves. And those really high temperatures in heatwaves are what put people and crops at most risk. Of course, forests aren’t normally cut down in rings. This analysis was designed to exclude other causes of temperature change, putting the effect of non-local forest loss in focus. <h2>Why is this happening?</h2> Forests cool the land because trees draw water from the soil to their leaves, where it then evaporates. The energy needed to evaporate the water comes from sunshine and heat in the air, the same reason you feel colder when you get out of a pool with water on your skin. A single tree in a tropical forest can cause <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378017300134">local surface cooling equivalent</a> to 70 kilowatt hours for every 100 litres of water used from the soil — as much cooling as two household air conditioners. Forests are particularly good at cooling the land because their canopies have large surface area, which can evaporate a lot of water. When forests in tropical regions are cut down, this evaporative cooling stops, and the land surface warms up. This is not news to the people of Borneo. In 2018, researchers surveyed <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378017314188">people in 477 villages</a>, and found they’re well aware nearby forest loss has caused them to live with hotter temperatures. When asked why forests were important to their health and the health of their families, the ability for trees to regulate temperature was the most frequent response. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431029/original/file-20211109-13-18wfaj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431029/original/file-20211109-13-18wfaj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Logging road" /></a> A logging road in East Kalimantan, Bornea: logged forest on the left, virgin/primary forest on the right. <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Logging_road_East_Kalimantan_2005.jpg" class="source">Aidenvironment, 2005/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" class="license">CC BY-SA</a> <h2>A climate change double whammy</h2> In many parts of the world, including the tropics and Australia, expanding farmland is a major reason for cutting down forest. But given hotter temperatures also reduce the productivity of farms, conserving forests might prove a better strategy for food security and for the livelihoods of farmers. If forests must be removed, there may be ways to avoid the worst possible temperature increases. For example, we found that keeping at least 10% of forest cover helped reduce the associated warming by an average of 0.2℃. Similarly, temperatures did not increase as much when the area of forest loss was smaller. This means if deforestation occurs in smaller, discontinuous blocks rather than uniformly, then the temperature impacts will be less severe. To help share these findings, <a href="https://treeheat.azurewebsites.net">we’ve built a web mapping tool</a> that lets users explore the effects of different patterns and areas of forest loss on local temperatures in maritime South East Asia. It helps show why protecting forests in the tropics offers a climate change double whammy – lowering carbon dioxide emissions and local temperatures together.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163584/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sally-thompson-1223399">Sally Thompson</a>, Associate professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067">The University of Western Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/debora-correa-1288935">Débora Corrêa</a>, Research fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067">The University of Western Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/john-duncan-1288934">John Duncan</a>, Research fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067">The University of Western Australia</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/octavia-crompton-1246306">Octavia Crompton</a>, Postdoctoral researcher, Pratt School of Engineering, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/duke-university-1286">Duke University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/deforestation-can-raise-local-temperatures-by-up-to-4-5-and-heat-untouched-areas-6km-away-163584">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Travel Trouble

How to cope with extreme heat days without racking up the aircon bill

Summer in Australia is <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/updates/articles/a032.shtml">getting hotter</a>. Extreme heat events, with daytime temperatures over 35 degrees Celsius, are becoming more common and we are getting more of these days in a row. We all need to prepare ourselves, our homes and our neighbourhoods for hot and very hot days. Since 2016, the <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/1161470/cooling-the-commons-report.pdf">Cooling the Commons</a> research project has been working with people living in some of Sydney’s hottest neighbourhoods to learn how they cope with heat. Discussion groups with residents across hotspots in Western Sydney, including Penrith, Cranebrook and St Marys, highlighted a wealth of things we can do to manage heat. We published some of the following tips in a recent <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/ics/news/new_resource_by_institute_researchers_provides_advice_on_how_to_prepare_for_heat">flier</a>. Why can’t we all just rely on air conditioning? Official advice for extreme heat is often to stay inside and turn on the air conditioning. While air conditioning can play a role, <a href="https://www.canstarblue.com.au/appliances/air-conditioning-running-costs/">not everyone can afford it</a>. Low-income and older households can be especially vulnerable to bill shock and are more likely to feel the impacts of extreme heat. There is also the risk that running air conditioners uses <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/09/australias-emissions-reach-the-highest-on-record-driven-by-electricity-sector">energy resources that contribute further to global warming</a>. More immediately, hot exhaust air from air-conditioning units can <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2013JD021225">make the local environment hotter</a>. This means keeping one home cool can make it harder for neighbours to keep their homes cool and make being outside even more uncomfortable. Air conditioning in private homes creates a cool refuge for only some. Unless those homes have an open-door policy on hot days, many of us will need to find other ways to keep cool. If you do have air conditioning, think about how you could share your air with those near you who might really need it. Prepare before the heat hits Shade is important for creating more comfortable living spaces. Identify which parts of your home get the most afternoon sun in summer. Can you plant trees or vines, or move a pot plant outside the window to create a green screen? Can you attach awnings to shade the windows? Low-cost temporary solutions can include attaching light-coloured shade cloth outside the window using removable hooks, or installing heavy drapes or blinds inside. Blankets or even aluminium foil are a low-cost creative way of keeping heat out. Open up to let in cool air at night Can you open the windows and doors overnight to let in cooler air? If you are concerned about security, look for options for locking the windows in an open position, or using flyscreens and security grilles on windows and doors. A low-cost option to keeping flying insects at bay on hot nights is a mosquito net over the window or around the bed. Use low-cost resources to prepare in advance. Ceiling or portable fans are one of the best ways to cool your body when it’s hot. But remember fans don’t cool rooms, so turn off the fan when you leave the room or you’re just burning electricity. Find ice trays and containers to freeze water – cake tins and storage containers are a good option. Putting these in front of a portable fan will mean the fan blows cool air. Putting a wet face cloth on the insides of your wrists, around your ankles or on the back of your neck will bring down your body temperature. Hanging damp sheets in doorways or in front of a fan will help keep the temperature down – although the trick with the sheets won’t work if it’s a really humid day. How to stay cool and comfortable on hot days Morning is likely to be the coolest time of the day. Open up your windows and doors to let in the cooler morning air. It’s the best time to be active – walk the dog, take the kids to the park, go for a swim. If possible, do your cleaning, cooking or outside work now. Plan meals that don’t require an oven. Close up as it heats up. As the day starts to get hot, close the house up – shut windows, blinds and curtains. This could be as early as 9am on really hot days. If you are heading out to work, do this before you leave home. Closing internal doors can help to keep the heat in one part of your home. You need to close doors to any parts of the home that get hot before the day gets hot. Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Put a jug of tap water in the fridge and remember to top it up. Don’t forget to move pet water bowls and day beds out of the sun. If you live in a dry area, it can’t hurt to put out extra water bowls for needy wildlife! Find a cooling refuge. If your home gets uncomfortably hot, find the closest cooling refuges in your neighbourhood. These are places where you can go to cool down. Good examples that won’t break the bank are the local swimming pool or library. Some local councils provide <a href="http://coolparramatta.com.au/">lists</a> of <a href="https://www.penrithcity.nsw.gov.au/waste-environment/cooling-the-city/beat-the-heat">cooling centres</a> on their websites. Save air conditioning for when it’s most needed. Try to save air conditioning for the hottest parts of the day. It will be most effective and cheapest to run if your home is well insulated and you’ve closed it up for the day. Look after neighbours. Remember to check on elderly or frail neighbours. Along with the very young, they are usually more affected by the heat and may need to cool down sooner than you do. If your neighbours are in need, consider inviting them into your home to cool down. When it’s hot, let’s <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Infrastructures-of-Care%3A-Opening-up-%E2%80%9CHome%E2%80%9D-as-in-a-Lopes-Healy/1920004e258483d40017ff468370e4892e11fce5">think of our cities as social commons</a> rather than a collection of private spaces. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/emma-power-250930">Emma Power</a>, Senior Research Fellow, Geography and Urban Studies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/abby-mellick-lopes-388977">Abby Mellick Lopes</a>, Associate Professor, Design, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/louise-crabtree-128457">Louise Crabtree</a>, Associate Professor, Institute for Culture and Society, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-sydney-university-1092">Western Sydney University</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-cope-with-extreme-heat-days-without-racking-up-the-aircon-bills-128857">original article</a>.

Money & Banking

Why is air colder the higher up you go?

Why is air colder the higher up you go? Shouldn’t it be hotter as you’re getting closer to the Sun? – Flynn, age 6, Sydney. Thank you Flynn, that’s a great question. A lot of people have probably wondered this. As you may know, hot air rises. So why is it so cold at the top of a mountain? Well, it helps if you imagine the ground here on Earth as a big heater. It keeps us warm, and if you move away from the heater you feel cold. So what “heats up” the heater? The light and warmth from the Sun. Scientists call this light and warmth “radiation”. Light and warmth travel from the Sun The light and warmth from the Sun travel through space towards Earth and pass through our atmosphere. (The “atmosphere” is what we call the swirling air that surrounds our planet.) But the atmosphere isn’t very good at holding onto the warmth from the Sun. The heat just slips straight through it. (For the adults reading: that’s because air at higher altitudes thins out as the gas particles expand and lose energy.) Eventually, the heat from the Sun hits the ground and the ground soaks it up. This especially happens in forests and oceans, which are very good at absorbing heat. Other places, like snow fields, are more likely to reflect the radiation – meaning it bounces back toward the Sun instead of being soaked up by the ground. Up, up, up The higher up you go, the further you are away from the “heater” that is keeping us all warm – the ground that has absorbed the warmth from the Sun. At the top of mountains, it can get so cold people could die within minutes without special protection. That’s because the air up there is just really bad at “holding onto” the radiation coming from the Sun, and the warmth passes straight through it on its journey toward the ground. And all the way up in space, there is a lot more radiation from the Sun, and astronauts wear special suits to protect themselves from it. But there’s also no air in space, which means there’s really nothing much at all to “hold onto” the warmth of the Sun and make the temperature around you feel warm. So if you were unlucky enough to be caught in space without a suit, you would freeze to death before the Sun’s radiation would get you. Written by Zoran Ristovski and Branka Miljevic. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-is-air-colder-the-higher-up-you-go-116822">The Conversation</a>.

Travel Tips

Does water temperature make a difference when you wash your hands?

A US study has discovered that washing your hands with cold water is as effective as washing them with warm water. Scientists from Rutgers University coated the hands of 20 participants in a harmless strain of bacteria and then had them wash their hands with varying temperatures of water. The participants either washed their hands at 15°C, 26 °C or 38 °C with a 0.5ml, 1ml or 2ml of antimicrobial soap. The temperature of the water was found to make no difference to how the bacteria was washed off. “People need to feel comfortable when they are washing their hands but as far as effectiveness, this study shows us that the temperature of the water used didn’t matter,” said <a href="http://news.rutgers.edu/research-news/handwashing-cool-water-effective-hot-removing-germs/20170529#.WTXluWiGOUm" target="_blank">Professor Donald Schaffner</a>, a Rutgers specialist in food science. The study, published in the <a href="http://jfoodprotection.org/doi/full/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-16-370" target="_blank">Journal of Food Protection</a>, also discovered how long the average person should wash their hands to remove bacteria. “We learned even washing for 10 seconds significantly removed bacteria from the hands,” said Schaffner However, those who work in industries such as restaurants or hospitals, should wash their hands for a greater length of time. US health guidelines advise hands to be washed with water that is warmer than 38°C though there is not much scientific proof that backs this up. The Rutgers team believe their findings could help the environment. “We are wasting energy to heat water to a level that is not necessary,” Schaffner said. The researchers hope more work will be done to establish the prime conditions for washing hands such as looking at the time you spend lathering them in soap and how you dry them. Do you wash your hands with warm or cold water? Let us know in the comments below.

Body

What temperature should your laundry be washed in?

It’s a well-rehearsed debate – hot water or cold water when washing your laundry? Those who swear by hot water will strike home the point that heat kills bacteria, and therefore gives a more effective wash. On the other side, we have the cold water spokespeople, whose main argument is that hot water not only shrinks your clothes but also drowns your power bill with the energy needed to heat the water. So what temperature should we actually be washing our laundry in? Colorado-based care expert Steve Boorstein told Real Simple: “Technological advances in both machines and detergents, and not just cold specific detergents, have made cold washing a highly effective option.” Energywise says washing on a warm cycle can use up to 10 times as much energy as a cold wash, which is an extra 20 to 40 cents for every single wash. Protein stains, such as sweat or blood, can set in when washed in hot water, Boorstein says. But some dry-fit workout clothes tend to still smell after a cold wash cycle, which is when Boorstein suggests giving them a cold wash pre-rinse within 20 minutes of a workout before putting them through a warm wash. Consumer Reports says “don’t bother” with hot water. Consumer tests over the past 15 years have found front loaders’ and high-efficiency top loaders’ warm wash cycles have declined by 15 degrees, and detergents have adjusted accordingly. Persil NZ suggests there are three forms of energy needed for the right balance to effectively remove soil from fabric: thermal energy, gained from hot or warm water; mechanical energy, from the machine’s action; and chemical energy, supplied from the detergent used. In general, the company says although all detergents can be used in cold, warm or hot water, the effectiveness of the detergent will decrease as the water temperature decreases. Optimal temperature should be decided through a number of factors, including the amount of dirt, type of fabric and the likelihood of colour running, all of which will be outlined and given a temperature recommendation on the care label. First appeared on <a href="http://stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank">Stuff.co.nz.</a> Related links: <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/health/body/2016/08/5-non-diet-based-reasons-you-are-bloated/">5 non-diet based reasons you’re bloated</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/health/body/2016/05/foods-to-eat-to-beat-bloating/">10 foods to eat to beat bloating</a> <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/health/body/2015/12/bloating-food/">The best and worst foods for bloating</a>

Body

Why women get colder than men

If you’ve ever sat next to your husband and wondered why he’s sitting comfortably in a t-shirt and shorts while you shiver in jeans, a fleece and a beanie you’ve probably wondered why women seem to feel the cold so much more than men. Recent research from the Netherlands has confirmed that yes, women do feel the cold more than their male counterparts due to a complex array of factors. Women naturally have a higher core body temperature than men generally due to their higher body fat percentage, which is better for retaining heat. Women’s bodies therefore conserve heat while men’s bodies let heat out, helping them to feel more comfortable in cooler air. Menstrual status and hormones also have a role to play due to their constant fluctuations. The research was conducted to assess the impact of a cooler working environment on productivity and found that women might be at a genuine professional disadvantage in the workplace because air conditioning is generally calibrated to suit a ‘male’ temperature range. This temperature range is devised by an algorithm called the "thermal comfort model". Devised in the 1960s, was based on one type of average metabolism — that of the middle aged, average weight and height male. This means the rest of the female workforce is generally going to be left a touch on the cool while at work. The moral of the story? You may not always be in control of the thermostat, but you can hold the power when it comes to your at-home heating! Get in and set your heater for a temperature that keeps you warm. Your husband might just have to wear shorts and a t-shirt all winter long! Do you agree with these findings? Let us know in the comments below. Related links: <a href="/finance/money-banking/2016/05/10-ways-to-keep-energy-bills-down-in-winter/">10 ways to keep energy bills down in winter</a> <a href="/health/hearing/2016/05/how-to-protect-your-ears-from-the-cold/">How to protect your ears from the cold</a> <a href="/health/body/2016/05/benefits-of-cold-start-to-day/">The benefits of a cold start to the day</a>

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