The 2021 State of the Environment report (SOE) was released in July 2022. The SOE reports have been released every 5 years since 1995 and are an assessment of every aspect of Australia’s environment and heritage, including rivers, oceans, air, ice, land and urban areas. We’ve pulled out some key findings related to heatwaves, citiesContinue reading “Key things we learned about cities and heat from the State of the Environment report”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Sweltering Cities is expanding our Board of Directors
Sweltering Cities is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) to join our Board of Directors and to support and guide the work of Sweltering Cities.
2022 Summer Survey Results Released
Read the results here. The Summer Survey from Sweltering Cities and Healthy Homes for Renters of over 2000 Australians has found that rising temperatures are having a significant toll on community wellbeing including both physical and mental health impacts. It is the largest ever survey on heat, health and homes in Australia. The report releasedContinue reading “2022 Summer Survey Results Released”
Turfing out fake grass: Resources on the impacts of synthetic turf on human health and the environment
Fake grass creates and exacerbates urban heat islands, causing detrimental effects on human health, and the natural environment. It can increase land surface temperatures by 40% or more, absorbing heat, warming air temperatures, hardening soil and thus increasing stormwater runoff. Microplastics are created both during its production and as it degrades. It kills nutrients inContinue reading “Turfing out fake grass: Resources on the impacts of synthetic turf on human health and the environment”
Make a submission to the NSW Design and Place State Enviro Planning Policy review
re some good things in the draft like cool roof measures, more trees and improved energy efficiency standards. However we think there are some clear areas where we could do more, like measuring home energy efficiency against future climate projections and going beyond trees to tackle the urban heat island effect on a range of fronts.
New HEATWATCH report for Western Sydney
HeatWatch: Penrith Could Face Nearly Two Months of Extreme Heat Per Year Extreme heat days over 35 degrees are projected to increase five-fold in Western Sydney, where areas such as Penrith could experience up to 58 days (almost two months) of extreme heat per year. This landmark HeatWatch report is by the Australia Institute ClimateContinue reading “New HEATWATCH report for Western Sydney”
Open letter: NSW needs to be more ambitious to reduce extreme heat
Experts, community leaders, local government leaders and civil society have signed onto an open letter calling for the NSW Government to lead Australia in reducing the impacts of extreme heat on our communities and building climate change resilient cities.
Residents gather in Campbelltown to discuss rising temperatures in SW Sydney
On the 2nd of May 2021, twenty-five people gathered in Campbelltown for the Sweltering Cities South West Sydney community meeting. The passionate residents shared their great vision for a liveable, healthy, sustainable and equitable local community. They discussed the biggest challenges that come from living in hot suburbs with rising temperatures, as well as theContinue reading “Residents gather in Campbelltown to discuss rising temperatures in SW Sydney”