By Andrew Taylor January 24, 2021 — 12.00am
“Some Sydney residents are living in homes with room temperatures nudging 40 degrees, as climate change raises temperatures and fear of big energy bills stops people from cooling down.
A study of indoor air temperatures in Sydney homes found 51 per cent of residents surveyed in the summer of 2018-19 felt “uncomfortably hot”.”
“Emma Bacon, founder of community group Sweltering Cities, said homes in Sydney had not been built to deal with the rising temperatures caused by climate change.
“Too many houses in Australia haven’t been built to keep cool without aircon in the extreme heat of our summers,” she said.
“They aren’t insulated well enough, or aren’t designed to take advantage of cross breeze, have dark surfaces that attract and absorb heat, or don’t have trees to provide shade or cool the land around the house.
“You’ll see new suburbs with houses barely metres apart with almost no eaves.”
Corrie Diamond said she was “dreading” the summer after a couple of days of hot weather last month left her in discomfort and unable to sleep.
“I wrapped myself in a damp towel with ice cubes,” she said. “This helped for a little bit, but I was melting and felt really uncomfortable.””