The consequences of heatwaves in Australia

Macquarie University ResearchOnline

Andrews, Kylie

Home

List Of Titles

The consequences of heatwaves in Australia

Add to Quick Collection

File	Description	Size	Format
SOURCE2	01front.pdf	480 KB	Adobe Acrobat PDF	View Details	Download
SOURCE3	02chapter1-2.pdf	1 MB	Adobe Acrobat PDF	View Details	Download
SOURCE4	03chapter3.pdf	3 MB	Adobe Acrobat PDF	View Details	Download
SOURCE5	04chapter4-7.pdf	2 MB	Adobe Acrobat PDF	View Details	Download
SOURCE6	05bibliog-appendicies.pdf	1 MB	Adobe Acrobat PDF	View Details	Download

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/23198

857 Visitors

1386 Hits

294 Downloads

Title: The consequences of heatwaves in Australia
Publisher: Australia : Macquarie University
Date: 1994
Author/Creator: Andrews, Kylie
Description: Thesis submitted as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of B.Sc (Hons), Macquarie University, School of Earth Sciences, 1994.
Description: Bibliography: leaves 119-126.
Description: Introduction -- Defining a heatwave -- Mortality morbidity and population vulnerability -- Heatwaves and lifelines -- A link between heatwaves and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation? -- The relevance of heatwaves in the future -- Conclusion.
Description: Heatwaves are one of the least studied and most underrated natural hazards in Australia. This thesis has undertaken the first step towards the recognition of the significance of heatwaves as a natural hazard, by investigating the consequences of heatwaves in Australia. Most of this analysis focuses on Australia, with Sydney and Broken Hill utilised as study sites for more specific analyses. -- Like droughts, heatwaves are difficult to define, and there is no official definition of a heatwave in Australia. Three heatwave definitions are proposed to represent three broad definitional methodologies:- media defined, a universal definition and a location-specific definition. These definitions are applied to Broken Hill and Sydney temperature data in order to investigate the applicability of the definitions, and to provide a sense of the frequency and severity of heatwaves in Australia. The most significant findings of this investigation are the inadequacy of a pervasive heatwave definition, and the problems involved in quantifying what is essentially a subjective experience. Again, similar to droughts, a general and useful definition of a heatwave may be impossible. -- The consequences of heatwaves on human mortality and lifelines are addressed. Total deaths caused by heatwaves indicate that in terms of this parameter, heatwaves are the most significant natural hazard in Australia (excluding disease hazards). Over 4,000 deaths have been attributed to heat in Australia since 1803 and this figure underestimates the real toll of heatwave-associated mortality. In addition to deaths caused directly by heat, this study indicates that, mortality from all causes increases in Sydney during heatwaves. The isolation of vulnerable population groups, activities, locations and time periods has been achieved by this analysis. -- Heatwaves also affect lifelines in Australia. Water consumption increases significantly with temperature in Sydney and water shortages, restrictions and supply failures have occurred in the past in conjunction with heatwaves. Effects on lectricity consumption and transport links are also demonstrated in this thesis. -- The analysis of future risk of heatwaves, dependant on the interaction of projected climate change and social change, suggests that the risk of heatwaves will increase in the future. The examination of an hypothesised relationship between heatwaves and El Nino- Southern Oscillation (ENSO) yielded negative results; it appears that no relationship exists. -- In addition to taking the first step towards understanding the significance of heatwaves in Australia, this thesis highlights several areas for future study into the consequences of heatwaves in Australia.
Description: Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Description: xiv, [151] leaves ill. (some col.), maps (some col.)
Subject Keyword: Heat waves (Meteorology) -- Australia
Subject Keyword: Heat waves (Meteorology) -- Health aspects -- Australia
Subject Keyword: Climatic extremes -- Health aspects -- Australia
Subject Keyword: Natural disasters -- Australia
Resource Type: Thesis bachelor honours
Organisation: Macquarie University. School of Earth Sciences

Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/23198
Identifier: 1285253
Language: eng
Rights: Copyright disclaimer: http://www.copyright.mq.edu.au
Full Text

ABN 90 952 801 237 | CRICOS Provider No 00002J