With winter now behind us and the mercury slowly rising again, a new report has thrown a spotlight on the danger posed by high temperatures.
Researchers have found that heat stress is Australia’s number one natural killer, accounting for the deaths of more people than floods, cyclones, bushfires and storms combined.
According to an ABC report, Macquarie University scientists found that since 1900, “a lower bound estimate of the number of fatalities is 4,555,” more than the combined total of deaths from all other natural hazards, barring disease epidemics.
Grey nomads, who tend to seek out warmer locations and may find it harder to find sanctuary from searing heat, are clearly among those who need to take special care.
The Macquarie University team concluded that the people most at risk of heat stress were the elderly, mentally unwell, people with existing medical conditions, and the poor.
Risk scientist Lucinda Coates said that, over time, deaths from heat stress had been declining. She told the ABC that the decrease could be attributed to a variety of factors including a better-informed public; reduced numbers of people working outside; greater freedom of dress, improvement in home cooling, and access and breadth of health services such as aged care services, warning systems and rescue services.
However, she warned that an ageing population, combining with increasing temperatures due to climate change mean the risk of deaths from heat stress will rise in the future.
The research revealed that – not surprisingly – most heat-related deaths occurred over the summer months, with the most lethal day of the year falling on January 27.
The peak year for heat-related deaths was 1896, with the more recent ‘Black Saturday’ year of 2009 also particularly bad. The research noted that while deaths from catastrophic bushfires receive a lot of attention, the number of people who die in associated heatwaves is often higher. For example, while 173 people died in the Black Saturday fires, 374 people died from heat stress around that time.
Boy, did I get a thirst when I was a young bloke; too much Emu Export; must have had too much salt in it!!!!!! Now days only drink enough to whet my whistle and the water bottle lives in the vehicle. Not many headaches these days. Don’t use the air con much though the boss likes it. I find if I use it too much I suffer when I haven’t got it.eg when we free camp.