“The heat we're experiencing now is not business as usual”: GP’s warning as mercury hits 48.9C in Victoria

On Tuesday, the severe heatwave saw temperatures in the Mallee northwest of Melbourne reach 48.9C - the highest ever recorded in Victoria, beating the previous record of 48.8C during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.

The 48.9C reading was registered in Hopetoun, about 385km out of Melbourne, and in Walpeup, a further 85km north.

In the wake of this heatwave and the catastrophic bushfires that razed great chunks of the  state earlier in the month, experts and farmers are concerned that record-breaking hot days aren’t anomalies, but a sign of a growing trend.

Australia’s most deadly natural disaster

Doctors for the Environment Australia executive director and GP, Dr Kate Wylie, told the Monitor these temperatures are posing an increased risk to public health.

• 🗣️ “The heatwaves are traditionally called Australia's most deadly natural disaster.”

Wylie said statistics show “about 3,300 people die every year in Australia from extreme heat,” but said that figure doesn’t represent the reality, as heat can impact so many other conditions.

• 🗣️ “Heatwaves increase our risk of having a heart attack, a stroke, of having kidney disease, of having acute urinary tract infections. They increase the risk of domestic violence and increase mental health impacts.”

Wylie said those most vulnerable to heat stress and heat exhaustion are people with preexisting underlying health conditions or anybody who works outside during the day.

• The best ways to avoid the impacts of extreme heat [are] to keep hydrated and stay out of the sun, Wylie said.

More common and more intense

Neerim South dairy farmer Dave Johnson told the Monitor this summer is the driest he’s experienced in his 40 years working the land.

“It does seem that every day there's a new weather event crisis somewhere,” Johnson said. 

Australia’s 10 warmest years have all occurred since 2005 (records began in 1910), according to the BOM.

• The 2024-2025 financial year was Australia’s hottest on record, with temperatures 1.68C above the 1961-1990 average. 

Wylie said: “Australia is renowned for being a hot country, but the heat we're experiencing now is not business as usual.”

In the State of the Climate 2024 report, the BOM and the CSIRO concluded that an increase of greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels would continue to increase temperatures around the country.

Due to this rise in temperature, the frequency of extreme heat events are increasing.

🗣️ “As heat waves get worse [from] our ongoing dependence on fossil fuels, as our planet continues to get hotter, we're going to see more and more people having their health harmed by extreme heat,” Wylie said.

“As doctors, public health is our first concern. Just as every cigarette is doing us damage, every tonne of carbon dioxide that we add to the atmosphere damages us too.”