From Flood to Fire: South Australia's Climate Whiplash - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

South Australia faces a hotter and drier summer
after its wettest winter in almost five decades

Key Points

The Country Fire Service opened the Fire Danger Season on 15 October in three northern districts, earlier than last year.[1] September's mean maximum temperature reached 27.5°C, 3.86°C above the 1961–1990 average and the third-warmest September since 1910.[2] South Australia recorded its sixth-wettest winter on record and its wettest since 1978.[3] The World Meteorological Organization forecasts record Pacific sea-surface temperatures from October to December, with the El Niño peaking around December.[4] Salinity and water levels most strongly shape Coorong phytoplankton, which sets the risk of harmful algal blooms.[5] Governments committed $102.5 million to an Algal Bloom Summer Plan that funds shellfish reefs and a dedicated research office.[6]

Hail and damaging winds swept across Adelaide on Sunday 11 October, toppling trees onto cars and blocking roads. 

Several storms crossed the state that afternoon and mostly cleared by 9 pm. Fallen trees accounted for most calls to the State Emergency Service.^[7]

That storm followed the wettest winter in South Australia since 1978 and a record-warm September in Adelaide. Fire authorities have also advanced the Fire Danger Season across the north. 

This investigation examines fire, water, coastal and algal threats converging on a state that spent winter sodden.

Fire and Heat

The Country Fire Service (CFS) opened the 2026–27 Fire Danger Season on 15 October in three northern districts. 

Flinders, North East Pastoral and North West Pastoral start earlier than last year because of elevated fuel loads. Vegetation curing, the drying of grass until it burns readily, adds to the risk.^[1]

Eastern Eyre and West Coast again start on 15 October, and Lower Eyre Peninsula follows on 15 November. Riverland, Murraylands, Lower South East and Upper South East begin on 1 November. A permit is required for most burning during the season.^[1][8]

Adelaide (West Terrace) recorded its highest September mean temperature on record. Across the state, the mean maximum reached 27.5°C, which is 3.86°C above the 1961–1990 average. That ranked third-warmest for any September since 1910, while rainfall finished 33% below average.^[2]

Emergency Leaders for Climate Action put the annual cost of bushfires at about $6 billion. Single major events, such as Black Summer, cost almost $30 billion. About 5.6 million households, roughly half the nation, face bushfire exposure.^[9]

Drought and Water Security

El Niño is a warming of tropical Pacific surface waters that shifts rainfall and temperature patterns across Australia. The World Meteorological Organization forecasts record sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific from October to December. The event should peak around December.^[4]

El Niño raises the likelihood of hotter, drier conditions across much of southern Australia. Other climate drivers shape local outcomes, as this wet winter inside an El Niño year shows. The swing from soaked ground to dry spring heightens fire risk.

South Australia sits at the downstream end of the Murray-Darling Basin, where upstream decisions shape river flows. The Basin Plan is the national framework that limits water extraction and returns water to the environment. The state government's May 2026 submission to the Basin Plan review insists on full recovery against every target.^[10]

The submission points to incomplete water recovery in the southern Basin. Incomplete recovery leaves downstream communities and ecosystems with less margin as El Niño intensifies. The review outcome will show whether recovery targets match a hotter climate.^[10]

Coorong and Algal Blooms

The Coorong lies on Ngarrindjeri Country at the mouth of the River Murray. Phytoplankton, the microscopic organisms that drift in its water, anchor the food web. Pipis, mussels, insects and small fish all eat them.^[5]

A Flinders University-led study found salinity and water levels most strongly shape Coorong phytoplankton. Climate-driven shifts in freshwater flows therefore reorder which species dominate. Salinity, the concentration of dissolved salt, swings sharply between drought and flood.^[5]

Harmful algal blooms follow different pathways. Drought-driven, high-salinity conditions raise the risk of dinoflagellate blooms, a group of single-celled plankton. High-nutrient, low-salinity conditions favour cyanobacteria, the blue-green algae.^[5]

The state and federal governments announced a $102.5 million Algal Bloom Summer Plan. It funds large-scale and community shellfish reef restoration and trials of bloom-management methods in controlled waterways. A new Office for Algal Bloom Research will undertake long-term studies of bloom events.^[6]

Coasts and Storms

Climate Ready Coasts is the state program that improves coastal management and accelerates coastal hazard adaptation planning. A coastal hazard is any process, such as erosion or storm surge, that threatens shoreline property and ecosystems. Planning of this kind sets protection priorities before storms and erosion force the decision.^[6]

Higher seas raise the baseline for storm surge, so the same storm reaches further inland. Erosion removes sand from beaches that buffer coastal suburbs. Both pressures build slowly and then arrive in single events.

Around four in five State Emergency Service calls on Sunday 11 October involved fallen trees. Trees blocked roads and fell onto vehicles across Adelaide. Damage spread across metropolitan Adelaide rather than the coast alone.^[7]

South Australia's 2025 Transport Strategy includes actions to weigh climate impacts in key transport decisions. The strategy also aims to strengthen transport resilience against major weather events. Storm-blocked roads show where that aim meets daily travel.^[6]

Adaptation and Policy

The state's Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation Actions outline government-led steps to prepare for climate impacts. The actions support efforts across all levels of government, business and the community. The document covers coasts, transport and algal bloom response, among other areas.^[6]

The 2024 Statewide Climate Change Risk and Opportunity Assessment will inform a review and update of those actions. That sequencing puts evidence ahead of revised commitments. Updated actions should reflect the latest evidence on heat, rainfall and sea level.^[6]

The state describes the actions as only a portion of broader efforts across governments, business and communities. That framing leaves the public without a single measure of total delivery. Independent tracking would close that gap.^[6]

Several decisions will shape the response to this summer's risks. The Basin Plan review, the adaptation actions update and algal research funding will test whether governance matches the risk. Frontline communities, including Ngarrindjeri people on the Coorong, carry the consequences of delay.

South Australia enters summer with a wet winter's growth drying under early heat. Fire authorities advanced the season, yet fuel and weather leave a narrow margin. The early declaration shows agencies reading the same evidence that scientists publish.

Water, coastal and algal risks compound the fire threat. The Basin Plan review, Coorong research and the algal bloom plan each depend on governments delivering their commitments. Delay in any one area increases pressure on the others.

Accountability now rests on published milestones, transparent funding and measurable outcomes. Bureau of Meteorology data and the state's own risk assessment supply the benchmarks. Residents deserve to see which agency owns each action and by when.

References

1. CFS urges preparedness as early start to Fire Danger Season declared. The SA Country Fire Service announces earlier 2026–27 season starts in northern districts, citing fuel loads and curing.

2. Monthly Climate Summary for South Australia: September 2026. The Bureau of Meteorology reports temperature and rainfall rankings and records for the state in September.

3. Australia in Winter 2026: Seasonal Summary. The Bureau of Meteorology ranks South Australia's winter rainfall as the sixth-wettest on record and the wettest since 1978.

4. Sea-surface temperatures reflect strengthening El Niño. The World Meteorological Organization forecasts record Pacific sea-surface temperatures and a December El Niño peak.

5. Shifts in flow and salinity shape phytoplankton communities in the Coorong. The CLLMM Research Centre summarises how salinity and water levels shape plankton and harmful algal bloom risk.

6. Responding to climate change risk and opportunity: South Australia's adaptation actions. The Department for Environment and Water outlines state adaptation actions, including the Algal Bloom Summer Plan and Climate Ready Coasts.

7. Damaging winds, severe storm cause damage and trees to fall in Adelaide. ABC News reports hail, damaging winds and fallen trees across Adelaide on 11 October.

8. CFS declares Fire Danger Season for South East, Murraylands and Riverland. The SA Country Fire Service confirms 1 November start dates for four further districts.

9. Supercharged fire seasons cost Australia $6b annually as El Niño summer looms. ABC News reports Emergency Leaders for Climate Action modelling of national bushfire costs and household exposure.

10. South Australian Government Submission to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's Basin Plan Review. The state government sets out its May 2026 position on water recovery and Basin Plan delivery.

Back to top ↑

A $57 Billion Climate Change Warning: Victoria's Exposure Outpaces Its Spending - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Heat, fire and rising seas have unmasked Victoria's adaptation gap
with funding trailing the scale of the risk

Key Points

Victoria’s September 2026 rainfall fell 59 per cent below average while maximum temperatures ran 2.68°C above it. Those conditions raise drought, fuel dryness and bushfire concern.[1] Heat drives 4,574 hospital admissions and 10,920 emergency visits each year in Victoria. Human-induced climate change lifted heat-related hospitalisations by 27.25 per cent.[2] More than $57 billion of government-owned or regulated infrastructure faces climate risk from a $318 billion asset base.[3] On current settings, the Victorian Marine and Coastal Council estimates $337 billion in coastal damage by 2100.[4] The 2025 to 2026 budget allocated $264 million to adaptation, while extreme weather has cost $2.7 billion a year on average.[3] Victoria approved the $1 billion Golden Beach Gas Project, with production from 2028 and storage from 2029.[5]

Beneath Port Phillip Bay, kelp forests have declined by a reported 90 per cent. 

Warming waters also draw tropical species south along the Victorian coast. 

Victoria’s climate future has arrived in measurable form.^[6]

Health data, infrastructure audits and weather records now tell a consistent story. 

This investigation examines the evidence, the agencies responsible and the gaps in accountability. 

Five themes follow: heat and fire, health costs, infrastructure, coasts and adaptation policy.

Heat and Fire Before Summer

The Bureau of Meteorology recorded September 2026 rainfall in Victoria 59 per cent below the 1961 to 1990 average. 

That made it the sixth-driest September since 1900. 

Mean maximum temperatures ran 2.68°C above average, the fourth-warmest on record.^[1]

Dry soils and hot days heighten drought stress, the condition in which plants lack enough water to function. 

They also dry the fuel that feeds bushfires, including leaf litter, bark and grass. 

That combination heightens concern about an unusually dangerous fire season.^[1]

El Niño, a warming of the tropical Pacific that shifts rainfall patterns, shapes Victoria’s 2026 to 2027 outlook. 

Whether those conditions deliver major bushfires and heatwave deaths remains the central test for emergency services. 

Hospitals and responders carry the strain if the season delivers extremes.^[1]

Health experts warn the coming summer could produce record heat-related deaths. Risks include heart attacks, worsened chronic illness, mental-health impacts, stillbirth and premature birth. 

Older homes with weak thermal performance leave residents of Melbourne’s hotter suburbs especially exposed.^[7]

The Measured Health Burden

A Monash University-led study analysed more than six million hospital admissions and emergency visits across 460 communities. Professors Yuming Guo and Shandy Li led the research, which covered hot seasons from 2014 to 2019. 

Heat accounted for 4,574 hospital admissions and 10,920 emergency department visits annually.^[2]

Those hospital visits cost the health system more than $30 million every year. Risks proved highest among women, in rural areas and in northern communities. The findings give planners a map of where heat harms most.^[2]

Researchers estimated that human-induced climate change increased heat-related hospitalisations by 27.25 per cent. Emergency department visits rose by 16.46 per cent from the same cause. Urban areas proved more sensitive, with climate change contributing 31.28 per cent of heat-related hospitalisations.^[2]

Heat therefore qualifies as a public-health emergency rather than a routine weather event. The burden concentrates in communities with less cooling, poorer housing and higher exposure. It will grow as hot days become more frequent.^[7]

Infrastructure Under Threat

Infrastructure Victoria, the state’s independent adviser, produced the first statewide map of climate risk to government-owned or regulated assets. It assessed $318 billion in assets against seven extreme weather events. 

More than $57 billion of that value faces damage or disruption.^[3]

Exposure rises by nearly 25 per cent over the next 40 years. Bushfire risk grows from more than $23 billion to over $30 billion by 2070. Extreme heat exposure climbs from nearly $11 billion to nearly $26 billion.^[3]

Flooding already threatens more than $22 billion of infrastructure, and roads carry the highest value at risk. Infrastructure Victoria urges funding for high-priority, cost-effective adaptation, including foamed bitumen stabilisation to protect roads from flooding. That technique strengthens road bases so they resist water damage.^[8]

Highest-risk roads include those around Melbourne and central Victoria, plus corridors toward Wodonga and Traralgon. Rail risk concentrates around Melbourne, Geelong and northern Victoria, while energy risk centres on Mildura, the Latrobe Valley and Portland. 

Health facilities in Bendigo, Swan Hill, Mildura and Melbourne’s south-east also rank among the highest-risk sites.^[3]

Coasts and Planning Under Pressure

The Victorian Marine and Coastal Council warns that the entire coastline faces escalating risk. Storm surge, a storm-driven rise in sea level, joins erosion and coastal flooding as hazards. 

On current settings, damage to land and property could reach $337 billion by 2100.^[4]

A Port Phillip coastal hazard assessment found flood threat rises significantly once sea levels climb beyond 0.5 metres. At 1.1 metres, about a quarter of the municipality’s land would fall within the hazard extent. Planners treat those thresholds as decision points for land use.^[4]

Inverloch, Port Fairy, Queenscliff, Point Lonsdale and Apollo Bay already report major coastal change. These towns show the hazard operating as a present condition rather than a projection. Each town sits within the coastline the Council describes as facing escalating risk.^[4]

Planners and infrastructure advisers argue Victoria must decide explicitly where to protect, retrofit, redesign or retreat. Retreat means the planned withdrawal of people and assets from high-risk locations. 

The state has improved some settings, including statewide flood mapping responsibility and bushfire-specific building standards.^[4]

The Adaptation Gap and Policy Contradictions

Victoria’s climate has warmed by 1.4°C since pre-industrial times. Cool-season rainfall has fallen by more than 10 per cent over 30 years compared with 1961 to 1990. The state’s science report projects further warming, drier cool seasons and worsening heatwaves, drought, bushfire and sea-level hazards.^[9]

Agriculture shows the strain in several sectors. Reported impacts include heat-damaged avocados, earlier grape harvests, lower grain yields, livestock heat stress and reduced egg production. Warming waters shift species distribution and erode kelp forests, the underwater canopies that shelter marine life.^[6]

Victoria has spent about $2 billion reducing emissions. The 2025 to 2026 budget allocated $264 million to adaptation, about one-third tied to bushfire recovery. Extreme weather cost the Victorian economy an average of $2.7 billion a year in the decade to 2016.^[3]

The Victorian Government approved the production licence for the $1 billion Golden Beach Gas Project off Gippsland. Production can begin from 2028 and storage from 2029, lifting state gas storage capacity by about 70 per cent. Environment groups frame the approval as another fossil-fuel project cleared ahead of the hot season.^[5][10]

Victoria’s evidence base now spans hospital wards, asset registers and coastlines. Each dataset points to exposure that exceeds the state’s adaptation effort. The science, the costs and the highest-risk locations are all documented.

Accountability rests with the agencies and ministers who set budgets, planning rules and building standards. A $264 million adaptation allocation sits beside $57 billion of exposed infrastructure and a new gas production licence. Those choices determine who bears the cost when heat, fire and flood arrive.

Decisions on where to protect, retrofit, redesign or retreat must precede the next disaster. The coming summer will show whether Victoria’s institutions act on the evidence already in hand. Public scrutiny of budgets and approvals will determine whether adaptation keeps pace with risk.

References

1. Victoria in September 2026. The Bureau of Meteorology’s monthly summary of Victorian rainfall and temperature.

2. Over 15,000 Victorians attend hospitals every year because of climate-change related heat exposure, study finds. Monash University’s release on the Environmental Health study of 460 Victorian communities.

3. Infrastructure Victoria sounds warning on climate change risk. The adviser’s summary of its statewide infrastructure climate-risk assessment.

4. Fire, flood and wishful thinking: Why we’re not ready for Victoria’s climate future. The Age’s report on coastal hazards and planning readiness.

5. Securing More Gas To Back Jobs And Bring Down Costs. The Victorian Government’s release on the Golden Beach Gas Project licence.

6. What we’re missing in climate conversations. Friends of the Earth Australia’s account of agricultural and marine impacts in Victoria.

7. From heart attacks to premature birth, experts are sounding the alarm on Melbourne’s next hot summer. The Age’s report on expected heat-health impacts this summer.

8. Climate change risks billions in roads, hospitals bills. AAP’s report on Infrastructure Victoria’s findings and recommended road adaptation.

9. Victoria’s changing climate. The state’s climate science summary of observed warming and projected hazards.

10. Victoria Approves Another Fossil Fuel Project Ahead of Hot Season. A media release criticising the Golden Beach approval.

Back to top ↑

Climate Change, Floods, Heat, and a Warming Reef Test Queensland's Planning Rules - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Record October rain has opened Queensland's severe weather season
while heat and Reef risks mount

Key Points

Nambour and Beerburrum broke October rainfall records, and eight stations north of Brisbane exceeded 300 mm in 48 hours.[1] Queensland has warmed 1.5°C since 1910, and the state's risk assessment ranks heatwaves as its deadliest hazard.[2] September's state-average maximum temperature ran 2.81°C above the 1961 to 1990 average, the sixth warmest September since 1910.[3] The Reef Authority says a moderate marine heatwave is possible from December 2026.[4] Queensland has the most at-risk coastal properties in Australia at 93,157, with projected losses of $214.5 billion by 2100.[5] Queensland is Australia's most disaster-prone state, and one analysis puts historical disaster costs at $50 billion to $70 billion.[6]

Floodwater cut roads across Caboolture, north of Brisbane, on the morning of 22 October. 

Rain fell at up to 170 mm in three hours, and 14 schools closed. 

State Emergency Service crews answered hundreds of calls.^[7]

The deluge landed amid above-average heat, a looming Reef warning and a live debate about planning rules. 

This article examines five linked pressures: sudden flooding, urban heat, Reef temperatures, seasonal risk and financial exposure. 

Each pressure exposes gaps between known hazards and the policies that govern them.

A Storm That Outran the Forecast

Flash flooding is rapid inundation that follows intense rain within hours, often giving communities little warning. 

At least eight weather stations in the Pine and Caboolture river catchments recorded more than 300 mm over 48 hours. 

Weather tracking site Weatherzone supplied the data to SBS News.^[1]

Nambour broke its October record, reaching 401 mm against the old mark of 370.6 mm. Beerburrum topped its previous record of 311.5 mm, reaching 354.2 mm. 

The Bureau of Meteorology had flagged Thursday as the wettest day, yet the severity proved unprecedented.^[1]

Dr Michael Barnes of Monash University says thunderstorms delivering 200 mm within 24 hours arise from highly localised processes. Small errors can shift a storm's forecast path or location. Forecasting itself has improved, with a seven-day forecast now matching the accuracy of a two-day forecast 40 years ago.^[1]

Climate change complicates the picture, Barnes says, because thunderstorms are driving intensifying daily and sub-daily rainfall extremes. Dr Andrew King says El Niño, a Pacific warming pattern, raises heat odds while other drivers shape outcomes. 

Dr King, from the University of Melbourne, says climate change continues amplifying extremes in the background.^[1]

Heat Becomes a Planning Question

Queensland's average temperature has risen 1.5°C since records began in 1910, according to government reporting. The state's heatwave risk assessment ranks heatwaves as responsible for more deaths than any other natural hazard. 

The North Queensland Conservation Council joined a petition urging the state to list heat as a natural hazard.^[2]

The draft State Planning Policy, the state document setting land-use priorities for councils, is now open for consultation. It names the reduction of urban heat islands as a key planning priority. Urban heat islands are built-up areas where concrete, roofs and walls trap heat.^[2]

Nicole Bennetts of the Planning Institute of Australia says legislation lacks mandates requiring developers to reduce heat. Repeated hot days can lift felt temperatures in built-up areas from 35°C to 40°C or higher, she says. Crystal Falknau warns that brick homes built for air conditioning become ovens when power fails.^[2]

Jarrod Bleijie, Minister for State Development, says the policy has stood unreviewed since 2016 and previously omitted heat entirely. Whether the final policy lists extreme heat as a natural hazard remains open. 

Architect James Davidson argues the National Construction Code must adapt, because passive design keeps homes liveable when power fails.^[2]

A Reef Waiting on Summer

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority reports slightly cooler sea surface temperatures across the Marine Park in September. Bureau of Meteorology long-range forecasts show temperatures rising, with a moderate marine heatwave possible from December 2026. 

A marine heatwave is a prolonged spell of unusually warm seawater.^[4]

Rainfall across Reef catchments is likely to run below average from October to December. More than 70 Traditional Owner groups hold Land and Sea Country across the Marine Park and its catchment area. The Authority calls their monitoring, compliance and stewardship essential to protecting the Reef.^[4]

Researchers from Monash University and the University of Melbourne analysed Reef weather data spanning 1996 to 2024. They studied doldrums, spells of weak winds, reduced cloud and dry air that let heat accumulate in Reef waters. 

Monash researcher Dr Lara Richards says lingering doldrums prolong ocean heating and can produce rapid temperature rises.^[8]

Bleaching, the loss of colour when stressed corals expel their algae, can follow that heat build-up. Richards points to the Lismore floods, where one low-pressure system drew moist air toward the east coast. The same circulation can steer dry air north towards the Reef.^[8]

A Season Built for Extremes

Queensland's severe weather season runs from October to April, bringing a heightened risk of storms, cyclones and floods. The Bureau of Meteorology expects this season to unfold against a strong El Niño and record warm global temperatures. 

Senior Meteorologist Laura Boekel says spring and summer will likely run hotter than usual, lifting heatwave risk.^[9]

From October to December, the east coast, including southern Queensland, faces the highest risk of severe thunderstorms. Far North Queensland joins that risk as the northern wet season begins in October. Queensland typically averages three to four tropical cyclones per season, with associated flood risk.^[9]

September delivered an early signal of the heat ahead. Queensland's area-averaged mean maximum temperature reached 31.5°C, which sat 2.81°C above the 1961 to 1990 average. That ranks as the sixth warmest September since 1910 and the highest since 2017.^[3]

Authorities urge households to prepare early, and the Bureau supported the Get Ready Queensland launch in October. Boekel says severe weather can develop quickly and threaten lives and property. Storm, flood, cyclone and heatwave risks share the same months, so communities face overlapping threats.^[9]

The Bill Written Into Property and Budgets

The Climate Council's Rising Seas, Rising Bills report finds Queensland has the most at-risk properties, at 93,157. It projects $214.5 billion in Queensland losses by 2100, split almost evenly between land use and property. The Gold Coast alone faces $84.4 billion, the most exposed urban area in Australia.^[5]

Sunshine Coast Council says its own flood mapping differs from the Climate Council modelling. The council acknowledges the region must prepare for more coastal inundation, erosion and other climate impacts. 

Report co-author Andrew Watkins lists parts of Noosa, Mooloolaba, Maroochydore and Caloundra among vulnerable low-lying sandy coasts.^[10]

A RenewEconomy analysis calls Queensland the most disaster-prone state in Australia. It estimates historical disaster costs at $50 billion to $70 billion and expects costs to outgrow the economy. The analysis also warns that reliable disaster cost data remains scarce.^[6]

Three milestones will test the response before April. Cyclone and flood risk builds through the northern wet season, and Reef heat stress could rise from December. Consultation on the State Planning Policy will show whether extreme heat earns formal hazard status.^[9][4][2]

Queensland faces linked hazards that arrive faster than the policies meant to manage them. Record October rain, a hot September and a warming Reef share rising exposure to climate extremes. The evidence from forecasters, scientists and planners points in one direction, and preparation must match exposure.

Governance gaps stand out. The planning policy stood unreviewed for a decade, and councils and researchers map flood risk differently. Reliable disaster cost data remains scarce, which complicates budgeting and adaptation planning.

Consultation on planning rules, Reef decisions and disaster funding will show whether authorities act before the costs arrive. 

Meanwhile, households on floodplains, coastlines and heat-trapping suburbs carry the risk.

References

1. Caught out in a record-breaking storm: Why we didn't see it coming. SBS News reports the 22 to 23 October rainfall totals, October records at Nambour and Beerburrum, and expert views on forecasting limits and climate change.

2. As temperatures rise, calls grow to redesign Queensland's urban sprawl. ABC News covers calls to recognise extreme heat as a planning hazard, the draft State Planning Policy and Queensland's 1.5°C warming since 1910.

3. Queensland in September 2026. The Bureau of Meteorology's monthly summary records Queensland's 2.81°C maximum temperature anomaly and its sixth-warmest September ranking.

4. Reef health updates. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority outlines September sea temperatures, the possible December marine heatwave and the role of Traditional Owners.

5. Rising Seas, Rising Bills: How sea level rise will cost every Australian. The Climate Council report details property exposure and projected losses by state, including Queensland's 93,157 properties and $214.5 billion.

6. Queensland's “prepare and repair” disaster economy – brought to you by coal and climate change. This RenewEconomy commentary estimates Queensland's historical disaster costs and argues disaster spending will outpace economic growth.

7. South-east Queensland weather updates: Hundreds of SES callouts as heavy rainfall leads to flash flooding. ABC News live coverage documents Caboolture's rainfall, road cuts, school closures and emergency warnings on 22 October.

8. Ill winds: calm weather puts Great Barrier Reef at risk. AAP reports Monash University and University of Melbourne research linking doldrums to Reef heating and a shared weather system with the Lismore floods.

9. Now is the time to Get Ready Queensland. The Bureau of Meteorology sets out Queensland's October to April severe weather season, thunderstorm and cyclone risks and the strong El Niño backdrop.

10. Properties face costly flood risk as hotspots identified. Sunshine Coast News records the council's response to the Climate Council modelling and names coastal hotspots including Noosa and Mooloolaba.

Back to top ↑

Heat and Drought Push New South Wales Toward a Perilous Climate Baseline - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Record winter warmth and a parched September have pushed NSW
into summer with rising heat and fire risk

Key Points

September 2026 delivered NSW’s fourth-driest September since 1900, with rainfall 80% below average.[1] Winter 2026 ranked as the warmest on record for NSW, at 1.81°C above the 1961–1990 average.[2] The share of Central Tablelands land in the Drought category jumped from 0.4% in August to 10.9% in September.[3] Climate-fuelled bushfires could cost Australia more than $181 billion over 30 years, averaging $6 billion a year.[4] The NSW Government accepted all nine Heat Stress Spotlight Report findings and promised a seasonal heat plan for 2027.[5] NSW has warmed 1.4°C since 1910, and sea level at the coast rose 12 cm between 1991 and 2023.[6]

On 25 September, Menindee reached 37.0°C, the hottest reading in NSW that month. 

Mudgee Airport collected 2.4 mm of rain across the entire month against an average of 54.3 mm. 

That total equalled about 4% of its usual September rainfall.^[1]

Those readings point to a pattern rather than a freak month. 

Record winter warmth, drying soils and rising fire costs now converge on a state still building its heat defences. 

This investigation examines the evidence, the communities exposed and the accountability gaps in the official response.

September Brings Heat and Almost No Rain

NSW area-averaged rainfall totalled 28.1 mm in September, 80% below the 1961–1990 average. 

Area-averaged figures merge gridded station readings into one statewide value for comparison with the long-term average. 

The result ranks as the fourth-driest September since 1900.^[1]

Parts of the Central Tablelands and neighbouring districts recorded their lowest September rainfall since 1900. 

Dubbo Airport collected 0.4 mm, about 1% of its September average. Dunedoo and Merriwa each recorded 0.0 mm for the month.^[1]

Heat compounded the dryness, with Mungindi’s September days averaging 30.5°C, or 5.2°C above normal. The area-averaged mean maximum temperature reached 25.0°C, 4.41°C above average and the third-warmest September since 1910.^[1]

Sydney’s Observatory Hill logged six straight days above 23.0°C, the earliest such September run in a record starting in 1859. Albion Park recorded its warmest September night on record, at 18.7°C. Norah Head reached 34.3°C on 21 September, a September record for that site.^[1]

A Warm Winter Sets the Stage

Winter 2026 became the warmest on record for NSW, in a series starting in 1910. The area-averaged mean temperature of 12.0°C sat 1.81°C above the 1961–1990 average. That margin beat the previous record of 1.76°C from 2023.^[2]

Rain fell unevenly across the state. Inland districts received above-average totals, and far-west sites including Tibooburra Airport had their wettest winter on record. Most coastal areas, apart from the Northern Rivers, finished below average.^[2]

Albion Park collected 23% of its winter average rainfall, the lowest on record there. Penrith Lakes recorded 27%, also the lowest. Statewide averages therefore mask sharp local deficits, particularly across Sydney’s west and the Illawarra.^[2]

Flash drought describes rapid dryness that heat and low rainfall drive within weeks, leaving little time to prepare. The NSW Combined Drought Indicator blends soil water, plant growth and rainfall data. Central Tablelands land in its Drought category rose from 0.4% in August to 10.9% in September, including Mudgee and Rylstone.^[3]

Fire Costs Climb Toward Summer

Former senior fire and emergency leaders released Prepare or Pay through Emergency Leaders for Climate Action on 22 October. ConnellGriffin modelling puts bushfire costs at more than $181 billion over 30 years. That averages $6 billion a year.^[4]

Fire seasons now run 21% longer than in 1979, the report finds. Major fires now strike every three to four years. Longer seasons shrink the windows for hazard reduction burns and limit interstate help.^[4]

The report records a fall of 10,336 firefighting volunteers between 2019 and 2023–24. Paid positions grew by only 433 over the same period. Fire crews are doing more with less, the report warns.^[4]

The Black Summer fires burnt about 45% of the Snowy Valleys local government area in 2019–20. In that area the fires killed one person and destroyed almost 200 homes. Some houses remain unrebuilt years later, leaving recovery unfinished as another fire season opens.^[7]

Heat Stress Moves Into Policy

The Net Zero Commission, an independent statutory agency, published its Heat Stress Spotlight Report on 21 April 2026. The report sets out nine findings across five action areas. Finding 1 urges a coordinated seasonal heat response plan that promotes early preventative action, health system readiness and workforce planning.^[8]

The Commission called extreme heat Australia’s most deadly yet most preventable natural disaster. Older people living alone, infants, outdoor workers and residents of poorly designed social, Aboriginal and rental housing face greatest risk. Targeted action for those groups can prevent much of the harm, the Commission argues.^[9]

The NSW Government responded this month, accepting all nine findings. It promised a seasonal heat response plan in 2027 and better methods to track heat-related deaths. That commitment answers Finding 4, which asked NSW Health to track, collect and publish data on heat-related deaths and illnesses.^[5][8]

Other findings target planning rules and SafeWork NSW regulations. The Commission wants development controls to address thermal safety and businesses to hold heat stress plans. The Minister for Climate Change, Penny Sharpe, said the government had proposed planning policy changes to reduce heat impacts.^[9]

Baselines, Money and Delivery

NSW average land temperatures have risen 1.4°C since national records began in 1910. Rising temperatures drive more hot days and severe fire weather days. Sea level rose 12 cm between 1991 and 2023, and projections reach up to one metre by 2100.^[6]

The Net Zero Commission’s 2026 Annual Progress Report finds adaptation efforts trailing the scale of the challenge. It calls for stronger governance, clearer roles and accountability, and timely delivery of commitments. It also urges better-targeted adaptation investment, backed by a long-term financing strategy across levels of government.^[10]

Prepare or Pay links resilience spending to economic returns. The report finds better fire preparation would save thousands of jobs each year. Early investment therefore protects workers and local economies as well as homes.^[4]

Section 20 of the Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Act 2023 let the Commission report on its own initiative. The Minister must publish a response within six months. That deadline gives the public a date against which to measure delivery.^[8]

September 2026 compressed several slow trends into one month. Record winter warmth, a parched spring start and rising fire costs now overlap across NSW. Each pressure reinforces the others and compounds the risk for exposed communities.

Governments hold the data and the legal duty to act. The seasonal heat plan promised for 2027 will test whether accepted findings become funded programs. Clear ministerial responsibility, public death tracking and timely delivery would show whether the response matches the evidence.

Frontline communities carry the exposure today, from drought-affected tablelands districts to renters in poorly designed housing. Firefighting crews face longer seasons with fewer volunteers and only modest growth in paid staff. Adaptation that matches the scale of the evidence remains the measure of NSW’s response.

References

1. New South Wales in September 2026. Bureau of Meteorology monthly summary supplying the September rainfall, temperature and station records.

2. New South Wales in Winter 2026. Bureau of Meteorology seasonal summary confirming the record-warm winter and the contrast between inland and coastal rainfall.

3. Central Tablelands Local Land Services. NSW Department of Primary Industries seasonal update tracking drought categories for August and September 2026.

4. New report: climate-fuelled bushfires to cost Australia $6bn a year, as El Niño raises risks. Emergency Leaders for Climate Action media release of 22 October 2026 summarising the Prepare or Pay modelling and firefighter workforce figures.

5. NSW Government responds to Net Zero Commission’s Heat Stress Spotlight Report. AdaptNSW notice of the government response, including acceptance of the nine findings and the 2027 seasonal heat plan commitment.

6. Climate change | NSW State of the Environment 2024. NSW Environment Protection Authority report documenting 1.4°C of warming since 1910 and 12 cm of sea-level rise from 1991 to 2023.

7. Supercharged fire seasons cost Australia $6b annually as El Niño summer looms. ABC News report, syndicated by WillyWeather, on Snowy Valleys losses during the 2019–20 fires.

8. Heat Stress Spotlight Report. Net Zero Commission page listing the nine findings and the minister’s six-month response requirement.

9. Extreme heat the most deadly yet preventable natural disaster, NSW Net Zero Commission says. ABC News report identifying the groups at greatest risk and the regulatory changes the Commission proposes.

10. 2026 Annual Progress Report. Net Zero Commission assessment finding that adaptation efforts trail the challenge and need stronger governance and financing.

Back to top ↑

Hotter Summers, Fewer Birds: Australia's Threatened Species Face a Policy Gap - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Climate change is the biggest threat to Australia’s endangered birds

Key Points

Birds at semi-arid New South Wales sites died three times faster in a very hot summer than a mild one.[1] Climate change now carries the heaviest threat load for threatened birds. Knowledge of how to manage it met just 3 per cent of need in 2020.[2] Models project that 101 terrestrial and inland water bird taxa will lose their climate space by 2085.[3] Marine heatwaves in 2023 and 2024 killed an estimated 629,000 seabirds, including two shearwater species.[4] Saltwater intrusion and prolonged flooding threaten the sedge wetlands that support northern magpie geese.[5] Australians who want extinctions avoided prefer managing wild populations where they live over captive breeding.[6]

Researchers photographed a dehydrated Jacky Winter in South Australian mallee woodland the morning after a 47°C day. 

Within 24 hours of a record 49°C in 2019, 29 per cent of studied adults vanished. Scientists presumed them dead.^[1]

A national assessment ranks climate change as the biggest threat to Australia’s endangered birds, ahead of invasive species. 

Threat load sums the weighted impact scores of every pressure on a group of birds. 

The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020 assesses 188 species or subspecies, about one in six, as nationally threatened.^[2][7]

Heatwaves and Extreme Temperatures

Citizen scientists have monitored 22,000 birds of 37 species at two semi-arid New South Wales sites since 1986. 

Survival reached 86 per cent in a mild summer that stayed at or below 38°C. 

A hot summer with 30 days above 38°C cut survival to 59 per cent.^[1]

Projections show days above 38°C at least doubling at those sites by 2104. Even rapid emissions cuts, holding warming near 1°C, lower annual survival from 63 to 43 per cent. Warming of 3.7°C this century cuts survival to 11 per cent.^[1]

Near 35°C, Jacky Winters climb the tallest trees for cooling wind, then pant, which risks fatal dehydration. Above 40°C they shelter in thermal refuges, meaning cool tree-base hollows, for up to eight hours. That halts foraging and drains body mass.^[1]

Hollows at tree bases proved significantly cooler than every other measured location. The best hollows occur only in the largest eucalypt mallees. All 41 egg clutches and 21 nestling broods exposed to air above 42°C died.^[1]

Drought, Fire and Habitat Loss

Drought, fire and heat head the list of individual pressures on threatened birds. Longer or more frequent droughts carry 10.3 per cent of total potential threat impact. Intensified fire carries 10.1 per cent, and rising temperatures and heatwaves carry 7.7 per cent.^[2]

Altered fire regimes, meaning shifts in fire frequency, intensity and extent, carry 11.6 per cent of threat load within Australia. Black Summer, the 2019 and 2020 bushfires, worsened the status of 26 species or subspecies, 16 on Kangaroo Island. Researchers also tie fire risk to the end of First Peoples fire management and to flammable exotic grasses.^[2][7]

On Kangaroo Island, high-intensity fire burnt over half the habitat of some endemic taxa. Losses ran so deep that some taxa qualified as threatened solely because of the fires. CSIRO researchers urge fire management that protects large trees, because their hollows serve as thermal refuges.^[1][2]

Climate change and altered fire regimes jointly supply nearly a third of threat load. They affect 89 per cent of taxa within Australia. Knowledge of how to manage climate threats met just 3 per cent of need in 2020.^[2]

Species Distribution and Extinction Risk

Models project 101 terrestrial and inland water bird taxa, meaning species and subspecies, will lose their climate space by 2085. Climate space means the range of climatic conditions that suits a taxon. Birds confined to Cape York, the Wet Tropics, the Top End and the arid zone rank as most vulnerable.^[3]

In Queensland’s Wet Tropics, cool-adapted birds retreat uphill as temperatures rise, creating an “escalator to extinction”. Annual surveys at 1,770 sites from 2000 to 2016 recorded rapid declines that tracked model predictions. Fernwren, Mountain Thornbill and Atherton Scrubwren have worsened in status as higher ground runs out.^[2][7]

Of the 188 threatened taxa, 23 qualify as Critically Endangered, 76 as Endangered and 89 as Vulnerable. Three birds listed as possibly extinct in 2010 now count as extinct. Climate change lifted its share of total threat load from 17.3 to 20.8 per cent between 2010 and 2020.^[2][7]

Fifty-five terrestrial taxa face more frequent or intense fires. Small island taxa rank highest for combined exposure and sensitivity to climate change, followed by marine and shoreline taxa. Yet a substantial share of threatened birds faces neither exposure nor sensitivity.^[3]

Seabirds, Coasts and Wetlands

Sixteen marine bird taxa breed at sites where models predict productivity falling at least 10 per cent. Marine productivity measures how much food the local ocean supplies. A small group of beach-nesting and saltmarsh birds also faces sea-level rise.^[3]

A marine heatwave, meaning a prolonged spell of unusually warm seawater, hit eastern Australia in 2023 and 2024. Researchers estimate those heatwaves killed 629,000 seabirds, including two Australian shearwater species. Most birds die at sea, so beach counts capture only a fraction of the toll.^[4]

Magpie geese depend on sedge wetlands across tropical northern Australia. Saltwater intrusion from sea-level rise and prolonged flooding after heavier rain could change those sedge plants. Researchers propose buffers at key wetlands to slow the saltwater.^[5]

Modelling shows marginal habitat loss in magpie goose food-plant wetlands under 1.4 metres of sea-level rise. Multi-metre rises produce large-scale losses, and the data miss fine-scale intrusion through channels and eroded levees. Researchers urge monitoring of the annual Indigenous harvest, because continued sustainable harvest depends on careful wetland management.^[8]

Conservation, Adaptation and Research

Researchers estimate managing the 396 most exposed or sensitive bird taxa would cost $18.8 million a year. That equals about $47,700 per taxon each year over the next 50 years. Monitoring leads the urgent actions, while refugia (areas that stay habitable) and captive breeding may eventually cost far more.^[3]

Eradicating introduced mammals from Macquarie Island cut the total threat load on Australian threatened birds by 5 per cent. Habitat protection and restoration, particularly on islands, and longline fishing controls also delivered measurable benefit. Published guidance on easing heat and drought effects on threatened birds remains virtually absent.^[2]

Threatened species funding in the decade to 2020 reached less than one-tenth of the estimated requirement. Taxa with recovery plans matched taxa lacking plans on the share of management need met. Only eight of the federal threatened species strategy’s 22 priority birds rank in the top 20 for threat or need.^[2]

Of surveyed Australians, 80 per cent want extinctions avoided. That group prefers managing wild populations where they live over captive breeding. More than 60 per cent of respondents accept conservation managers deciding strategy rather than local communities or the public.^[6]

Climate change now outranks every other threat to Australia’s threatened birds. The evidence spans desert mallee, upland rainforest, ocean colonies and tropical wetlands. Heat, drought and fire act on every one of those habitats.

Governance has trailed the science. Funding, knowledge and priority-setting all fell short of the scale of loss. Accountability for that gap rests with the governments that set the strategy and fund the response.

Practical answers exist. Governments can fund monitoring, protect large trees and refuges, restore habitat, control invasive species and plan for climate refugia. Australians have shown support for protecting wild populations where they live, which gives governments a clear mandate.

References

1. ‘Sad and distressing’: massive numbers of bird deaths in Australian heatwaves reveal a profound loss is looming. CSIRO scientists Janet Gardner and Suzanne Prober report threefold bird mortality in very hot summers, with survival projections to 2104 and evidence on thermal refuges.

2. Monitoring threats to Australian threatened birds: climate change was the biggest threat in 2020 with minimal progress on its management. This peer-reviewed Emu paper by Garnett and colleagues quantifies threat load, research progress and management gaps across all Australian threatened birds.

3. Climate change adaptation strategies for Australian birds. The National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility report models climate space loss to 2085 and costs adaptation for 396 vulnerable bird taxa.

4. Mortality of shearwaters following a marine heat wave in Australia. The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels summarises the Conservation Biology estimate of 629,000 seabird deaths in 2023 and 2024.

5. How will climate change affect plant-herbivore interactions? A tropical waterbird case study. This Emu paper by Traill, Whitehead and Brook outlines how saltwater intrusion and flooding could alter the sedge wetlands that support magpie geese.

6. Social preferences for adaptation measures to conserve Australian birds threatened by climate change. A choice experiment published in Oryx shows Australian public support for managing wild populations in place and for deferring to conservation managers.

7. The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020 reveals that one in six are nationally threatened. BirdLife DataZone summarises threatened-bird counts, Wet Tropics declines and Black Summer impacts from the Action Plan for Australian Birds 2020.

8. Conservation of north Australian magpie geese Anseranas semipalmata populations under global change. This University of Adelaide research record models sea-level inundation of wetlands and recommends saltwater buffers and monitoring of the Indigenous harvest.

Back to top ↑

As Australia Heats Up Climate Change Reaches the Family Pet - Lethal Heating Editor BDA

Hotter summers and worsening disasters
are putting Australian dogs and cats at growing risk

Key Points

A 20-year New South Wales study found dog mortality risk rose 0.6% per degree above 25°C and 9.5% on days above 32°C.[1] Asphalt can exceed 50°C when the air reaches 25°C, putting pets at risk of paw burns.[2] Overnight temperatures above 25°C stop animals shedding the day’s heat, raising heat stress across consecutive hot days.[3] Researchers expect heat and floods to aid parasites, including ticks, fleas and heartworm.[4] Western Australian evacuation centres generally exclude pets other than recognised assistance animals.[5] The Bureau of Meteorology expects tropical Pacific warmth to peak around November or December and persist into autumn 2027.[6]

On a 25°C afternoon, suburban asphalt can exceed 50°C. 

Dogs cross that surface barefoot, with paw pads centimetres from the heat. 

RSPCA Australia lists burns among the injuries that rising air temperatures bring to pets.^[2]

Heat, disaster and disease now converge on household pets, and the evidence shows where the risk concentrates. 

The Australian Veterinary Association links climate change to more droughts, heatwaves, bushfires and floods. 

It says heat stress commonly affects pets.^[7]

Heat Reaches the Backyard

Heatstroke, a life-threatening rise in body temperature, can cause rapid multi-organ failure and death in pets. 

RSPCA Australia calls it an emergency that demands immediate veterinary attention. 

The organisation says the risk is increasing as heatwaves grow more frequent and prolonged.^[8]

A study in the Australian Veterinary Journal analysed two decades of New South Wales veterinary data. 

Dog mortality risk rose 0.6% for each degree of daily maximum temperature above 25°C. 

Extreme heat days above 32°C, the 95th percentile of regional daily maximum temperatures, carried a 9.5% higher risk.^[1]

Public holidays and Sundays carried higher mortality risk even after the analysis controlled for temperature. 

Sundays showed nearly double the risk of other days of the week. The authors say veterinary public health policy and key messaging about heat deaths in dogs should use these findings.^[1]

Individual risk varies with age, body condition, health and breed. RSPCA Australia identifies obese dogs and brachycephalic (flat-faced) breeds such as pugs and bulldogs as high-risk. 

Both groups have a reduced capacity to regulate body temperature.^[2]

Where the Risk Concentrates

Humidity amplifies heat. RSPCA Australia lists warm, humid weather, poor airflow and scarce shade among the main heatstroke risk factors. Heatstroke can still develop in cooler weather when several of those factors combine.^[8]

Parts of northern Australia have already recorded such conditions. RSPCA Australia’s 2020 research report documents record humidity, rainfall and flood risk in some northern regions during 2019. It draws that finding from the Bureau of Meteorology’s annual climate statement.^[2]

Agriculture Victoria says heat load builds when overnight temperatures stay above 25°C across consecutive hot days. Its guidance covers pets and livestock. It urges planning for days above 36°C in dry heat, or lower when humid.^[3]

Cities add a structural hazard. The urban heat island effect, where built-up areas run hotter than surrounding land, raises heat illness risk for city animals. RSPCA Australia flags that risk in its research report.^[2]

Parasites Shift Their Range

Vectors are organisms such as mosquitoes and ticks that carry disease. The Australian Veterinary Association says warmer temperatures and rain events that aid vector breeding have increased several diseases. Some diseases have also shifted geographically.^[7]

Researchers writing in The Conversation expect heat and floods to aid the spread of parasites and illness. They name tick-borne disease, flea infestations and heartworm as likely consequences for pets. The authors conclude that pets will need human help to cope.^[4]

RSPCA Australia notes suggestions that shifting humidity and temperature in Queensland sustain heavy flea burdens. It expects higher risk from heartworm, a mosquito-borne parasite of dogs. It also expects more irritation and allergies from arthropods such as fleas, ticks and mites.^[2]

Evidence remains thin. In 2020, RSPCA Australia found a general lack of peer-reviewed literature that systematically assesses climate-related welfare risks to animals. It says further research must establish the range and extent of those risks.^[2]

Evacuation Without a Plan

Extreme weather can displace pets. RSPCA Australia warned in 2020 that owners may delay evacuating when pets lack accommodation. It tied that concern to South Australia and Western Australia, where evacuation centres excluded pets other than assistance animals.^[2]

In February 2026, RSPCA WA and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services urged households to plan for pets. The call followed a string of Western Australian bushfires. RSPCA WA’s chief operating officer said community evacuation centres generally exclude animals other than recognised assistance animals.^[5]

Australian emergency arrangements assign formal roles to response agencies, but individual pet owners ultimately retain responsibility for their animals. A survey of Townsville residents in the Australian Journal of Emergency Management found most pet owners uncertain or underprepared. 

The authors frame this as shared responsibility and urge households to plan ahead for their pets.^[9]

Disaster specialist James Sawyer wrote in 2024 that animal evacuation planning stays informal without legislation. Resources then rely on volunteers, and authority is largely absent. He described the planning and resourcing gap for evacuating people with animals as huge.^[10]

The Summer Ahead and Owner Duties

El Niño is a warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean that shifts weather patterns across Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology says all models forecast warmth peaking around November or December and persisting into autumn 2027. 

Most models show monthly peaks above +3.0°C on the Relative Niño3.4 index, higher than any since 1950.^[6]

Agriculture Victoria says responsibility for preparing animals for heat events rests with owners and carers. Victorian guidance limits unattended time in a vehicle to 10 minutes on days above 28°C. At 28°C or above, dogs riding on metal ute trays need an insulating layer beneath them.^[3]

RSPCA Australia advises giving pets free access to water and cool areas. Cats may need confinement indoors when outdoor conditions turn too hot. Rabbits, guinea pigs and other caged animals need a cool, shaded, ventilated spot indoors, such as a laundry.^[8]

Signs of heatstroke vary by species but may include lethargy, fast breathing, shaking and collapse. RSPCA Australia directs owners who suspect heatstroke to seek veterinary attention immediately. Very young animals regulate body temperature poorly, and very old animals often carry conditions that limit cooling.^[8]

Conclusion

Veterinary data and animal welfare bodies show that climate change already endangers Australian pets. Heat, humidity, hot pavements and spreading parasites each raise the risk, and research gaps still limit the picture.

Responsibility rests largely with owners, and evacuation rules in Western Australia leave households to arrange their own shelter. One disaster specialist argues that legislation would close the planning gap and give agencies a clear mandate.

The El Niño summer will test those arrangements. Accountability depends on whether lawmakers, agencies and veterinarians share the duty that owners already carry. 

Owners can act now by planning for heat, smoke, flood and evacuation before summer peaks.

References

1. Feeling the heat: associations among daily ambient temperatures, extreme heat days and risk mortality in Australian dogs from New South Wales (1997-2017). Peer-reviewed Australian Veterinary Journal analysis of 20 years of New South Wales veterinary data linking heat to dog mortality.

2. The Impact of Climate Change on the Welfare of Animals in Australia (RSPCA Australia, 2020). Animal welfare organisation review of heat, disaster and disease risks to companion animals, farm animals and wildlife.

3. Caring for animals during extreme heat (Agriculture Victoria). Government guidance on heat load, overnight temperatures and the care of pets and livestock, last updated in July 2026.

4. How climate change will affect your pet and how to help them cope (The Conversation, 2023). Researcher commentary on climate-related welfare risks to pets, including parasites and disease.

5. Suburban bushfires prompt urgent call for pet emergency plans (RSPCA WA, 2 February 2026). Western Australian animal welfare and fire agencies explain why households need their own pet evacuation plans.

6. Southern Hemisphere monitoring: Pacific, Indian and Southern Ocean regions (Bureau of Meteorology). National weather agency monitoring of El Niño conditions, with model forecasts of a peak around November or December.

7. Climate change and animal health, welfare and production (Australian Veterinary Association policy, 2022). Professional veterinary policy linking climate change to heat stress, extreme events and vector-borne disease.

8. What can I do to protect my companion animals from heatstroke? (RSPCA Knowledgebase). Animal welfare guidance on heatstroke signs, risk factors and prevention across companion species.

9. Promoting owner responsibility for pets in disasters (Gurtner and Parison, Australian Journal of Emergency Management). Survey of Townsville residents examining pet disaster planning and where legal and policy responsibility sits.

10. Closing the planning gap: evacuating people and animals (Sawyer, Australian Journal of Emergency Management, April 2024). Opinion piece on the legislative and resourcing gap in evacuating people with their animals.

Back to top ↑