Melbourne developing tool to combat rising temperatures

The City of Melbourne will develop a tool to map heat hazards and strengthen responses to extreme heat events.

Partnering with ClimaSens, a Melbourne-based climate startup, the council will aim to boost the city’s climate resilience. The technology will use live weather and climate data to identify real-time heat risk insights and map heat hotspots around the city. This will identify heat-vulnerable populations and priority areas for cooling strategies and initiatives.

“This new tool will identify our city’s most vulnerable areas, and we look forward to working with ClimaSens and their team of innovators to bring the heat risk platform to life over the coming year,” said Lord Mayor Sally Capp.

Melbourne is experiencing hotter days, longer and more intense bushfires, and less rainfall. By 2050, the city will experience an average of 16 heat events each year.

“Extreme heat exacerbates existing inequalities and disproportionately affects the most vulnerable in society,” said ClimaSens Co-Founder and CEO Joseph Glesta. “We think it is critical to identify this risk to both populations and the places they live to better understand how to plan, prepare and respond to future heatwaves.”

Melbourne has joined the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Centre’s Champions for Heat Action initiative, becoming the sixth city in the world — and the first in Australasia — to do so. Krista Milne and Tiffany Crawford were appointed as Co-Chief Heat Officers last year.

“We hope this platform provides a solution to heat monitoring and management, helping us protect those who are most vulnerable during a heat wave, while improving our wider climate resilience planning and investment decisions,” Crawford said.

Image credit: iStock.com/ChrisGordon