Cities may need ‘cool refuges’ as climate change brings heat waves
By CATHY ALEXANDER
August 3, 2010 – 5:54PM
(AAP) Cities may need “cool refuges” as climate change brings heat waves and the risk of mass casualties, engineers warn. They’ve raised the prospect of vulnerable people – including the elderly and the sick – heading into air-conditioned shopping malls to survive, possibly at night. The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), a body of engineers and scientists, released a plan on Tuesday to climate-proof the country’s cities. The report cautions that while 90 per cent of Australians live in urban areas, little has been done to prepare cities for global warming. Heat deaths could triple in 40 years “with the potential for catastrophic disasters in unprecedented heat waves”. The report said hotter weather would make it hard to do physical work and exercise. Old people, young children, the sick and the disadvantaged were most vulnerable, with most heat-related deaths occurring at night. ATSE recommended the establishment of “cool refuges” in shopping malls and other enclosed public spaces. …
Shopping malls are not public spaces.