Socio-cultural reflections on comfort and heat in Australia with implications for climate change adaption

Abstract

Heat has profoundly influenced many aspects of Australian life and informs a dominant cultural identity, and we argue that Australians have not found living with the extremes of heat provided by the Australian climate as difficult as one might imagine. This may be due to the fact that in Australia heat waves would not be considered “anomalous” events (McGregor, G. et al The social impacts of heat waves 2007, p.1). What appears to be happening is incremental change in how a majority define extreme heat, easily absorbed by advantaged groups who have access to remedial technologies leaving less advantaged individuals in poorer houses, suburbs and health vulnerable to prolonged heat events. This certainly was the case in the US (Klinenberg, E. Heat Wave 2002). The nation’s cultural acceptance of heat is sedimented within the national psyche through government promotions as a tourist destination: the sun, sea and outdoors barbecue reappear over and again as iconic Australian scenes. In short, there are good reasons for Australians to have developed a culture which has an ambivalent relationship to heat. We reflect on the manifestations of this ambivalence by considering different sub-population experiences of heat as well as the vulnerabilities that result from the attitudes and predispositions that Australians employ to think about, respond and adapt to heat. Show more