A new national heat mapping tool has been developed to help Australian communities better prepare for extreme heat.
The Heat-Health Risk Index is an Australia Climate Service tool that will identify risks to residents in heat waves.
The Service said extreme heat led to more deaths and hospital admissions annually than any other hazard in Australia and the risk varied significantly across communities.
The index uses community-level data, such as housing and access to transportation, socioeconomic and health status, and factors like vegetation and available services to create a risk score.
It provides better understanding of climate risks at a granular level and aims to assist locally-led climate adaptation.
The Australian Climate Service is a partnership between the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Geoscience Australia.
It is hoped the index will identify other information needed to improve approaches to mitigate, avoid or adapt to heatwaves.
View the Heat-Health Risk Index.
