Housing estate being built on a floodplain leaves flooded homeowners outraged

Ch 9, "A Current Affair" segment, 2 April 2023:

Locals' outrage as $34m estate approved to be built on a floodplain

With sweeping views on the New South Wales coast, it's easy to see why Yamba has gone from being a small, sleepy, coastal town to a holiday favourite for tourists.

But locals say their idyllic lifestyle is now under threat because the town is being drowned by developers who were given the green light to build on a flood plain.

Dozens of Yamba residents turned up to protest outside a $34 million development being constructed in the town's west.

(NINE) Click on image to enlarge

Locals claim developers are filling the land in with 3.5m of dirt.

They say it's towering over their backyards, means constant vibration and trucks, and worse - has changed the area's water flow and is causing their homes to flood.

Lynne, who is spearheading the town's campaign to 'stop the fill' said the developments are "devastating (the) local people". 

"It's 136 manufactured housing estate, very small lots from 240 to 280 square metres per block, it's all cramped in," she said.

Video of full Current Affairs segment (including February-March 2022 Yamba flood footage) at:

https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/yamba-flooding-locals-outrage-as-housing-estate-approved-to-be-built-on-a-floodplain/0ef4a211-74de-4b0e-835d-8fbbc6ca202d

Tonight A Current Affair will be taking a look at what one large American residential land lease company is willing to do to a small Australian coastal town in order to make a quick buck for its stateside owners.

A Current Affair

7pm on Channel 9 tonight

Tuesday 2 April 2024

https://www.9now.com.au/a-current-affair/season-2024

Yamba CAN Inc Community Action Network - Protest Banner

Tonight A Current Affair will be taking a look at what one large American residential land lease company is willing to do to a small Australian coastal town in order to make a quick buck for its stateside owners.

Some of the program's promotional pics showing the approx. 6ha Park Ave, Yamba landfill site. 

 

YAMBACAN image showing the increased height of the landfill and boundary fencing in relation to existing housing.

BACKGROUND

Hometown America LLC is a residential land lease company in the U.S. operating over 60 manufactured home sites containing over 24,000 home sites styled as affordable housing.

The corporation is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and has two business divisions – the Hometown America Family Communities and Hometown America Age-Qualified (55+) Communities.

Hometown America has been the defendant in multiple legal actions principally brought by individuals and groups of individuals who were residents in its U.S. land lease-manufactured home sites. In December 2023 Hometown America management was named in a class action alleging collusion between a number of land lease companies to fix and inflate lot rental prices.

Hometown America is the parent company of Hometown Australia headquartered in Queensland and when it was establishing itself in Australia was composed of the following entities:

A.C.N. 626 522 085 Pty. Ltd – registered in NSW on 31 May 2018

Hometown Australia Management Pty Ltd (ACN 614 529 538)

Hometown Australia Nominees Pty Ltd (ACN 616 047 084) atf Hometown Australia Property Trust (Hometown).

Through its Australian subsidiary Hometown Australia this U.S. corporation currently operates est. 51 sites in Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales, marketed as affordable housing and lifestyle living for the over 50s. By 2021 these land lease sites reportedly housed 10,000 people. Four of these sites are in the Northern Rivers regions, with more on the drawing board.

On completion of construction, 8 Park Ave will be Hometown America’s sixth site in the Northern Rivers region – bringing its land lease sites in Yamba to two manufactured homes estates.

It will also increase the Yamba population by between 136 and 272 people over 50 years of age, in a town where 57.50% of the population are already aged 50 to 85 years of age and older [Australian Census, August 2021].

This development will also increase the population in the 0.37sq.km SA1 statistical precinct it lies within – from 654 persons to between 790–926 persons depending on number of occupants per dwelling at 8 Park Ave.

Note: This statistical precinct is bounded by sections of Park Ave, Wattle Drive, Gumnut Road, The Links, The Mainbrace, Shores Drive and Yamba Road and currently contains more than 200 houses, townhouses and apartments/units. Along with one childminding centre and one motel [maps.abs.gov.au, 2021]

Hometown America’s land-lease sites in NSW are governed by the provisions in the Residential(Land Lease) Communities Act 2013.

In the first financial year Hometown America LLC was operating in Australia 2019-20 its local arm Hometown Australia Holdings Pty Ltd declared an income of $185,480,667 with no taxable income and no taxes paid. In 2020-21 its second financial year its local arm declared $314,117, 781 in income with no taxable income or tax paid. [Australian Taxation Office, Data Sets, Corporate Tax Transparency, Report on Entity Tax Information 2019-20 & 2020-21]

Hometown Australia is gaining a similar reputation to its U.S. parent company when it comes to resident’s complaints and concerns about its business practices – particularly in relation rent increases and poor maintenance of community facilities [media report 2020, media report 2021 & media report 2022].

March 2024 Special Rapporteur's report to United Nations Human Rights Council finds there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza has been met

 

IMAGE: The Guardian 30 March 2024

United Nations, The Question of Palestine

Anatomy of a Genocide – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 to Human Rights Council – Advance unedited version (A/HRC/55/73)

March 24, 2024

Human Rights Council

Fifty-fifth session

26 February–5 April 2024

Agenda item 7

Human Rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories

Anatomy of a Genocide

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese*

Summary

After five months of military operations, Israel has destroyed Gaza. Over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 13,000 children. Over 12,000 are presumed dead and 71,000 injured, many with life-changing mutilations. Seventy percent of residential areas have been destroyed. Eighty percent of the whole population has been forcibly displaced. Thousands of families have lost loved ones or have been wiped out. Many could not bury and mourn their relatives, forced instead to leave their bodies decomposing in homes, in the street or under the rubble. Thousands have been detained and systematically subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. The incalculable collective trauma will be experienced for generations to come.

By analysing the patterns of violence and Israel’s policies in its onslaught on Gaza, this report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israel’s commission of genocide is met. One of the key findings is that Israel’s executive and military leadership and soldiers have intentionally distorted jus in bello principles, subverting their protective functions, in an attempt to legitimize genocidal violence against the Palestinian people.

…

Conclusions

93. This report finds that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating the commission of the following acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza has been met: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to groups’ members; and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. Genocidal acts were approved and given effect following statements of genocidal intent issued by senior military and government officials.

94. Israel has sought to conceal its eliminationist conduct of hostilities sanctioning the commission of international crimes as IHL-abiding. Distorting IHL customary rules, including distinction, proportionality and precautions, Israel has de facto treated an entire protected group and its life-sustaining infrastructure as ‘terrorist’ or ‘terrorist-supporting’, thus transforming everything and everyone into either a target or collateral damage, hence killable or destroyable. In this way, no Palestinian in Gaza is safe by definition. This has had devastating, intentional effects, costing the lives of tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroying the fabric of life in Gaza and causing irreparable harm to its entire population.

95. Israel’s genocide on the Palestinians in Gaza is an escalatory stage of a longstanding settler colonial process of erasure. For over seven decades this process has suffocated the Palestinian people as a group – demographically, culturally, economically and politically –, seeking to displace it and expropriate and control its land and resources. The ongoing Nakba must be stopped and remedied once and for all. This is an imperative owed to the victims of this highly preventable tragedy, and to future generations in that land.

VIII. Recommendations

96. The Special Rapporteur urges member states to enforce the prohibition of genocide in accordance with their non-derogable obligations.309 Israel and those states that have been complicit in what can be reasonably concluded to constitute genocide must be held accountable and deliver reparations commensurate with the destruction, death and harm inflicted on the Palestinian people.

97. The Special Rapporteur recommends that member states:

(a) Immediately implement an arms embargo on Israel, as it appears to have failed to comply with the binding measures ordered by the ICJ on 26 January 2024, as well as other economic and political measures necessary to ensure an immediate and lasting ceasefire and to restore respect for international law, including sanctions;

(b) Support South Africa having resort to the UNSC under article 94(2) of the UN Charter following Israel’s non-compliance with the above-mentioned ICJ measures;

(c) Act to ensure a thorough, independent and transparent investigation of all violations of international law committed by all actors, including those amounting to war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide, including:

(i) cooperating with international independent fact-finding/ investigative and accountability mechanisms;

(ii) referring the situation in Palestine to the ICC immediately, in support of its ongoing investigation;

(iii) discharging their obligations under the principles of universal jurisdiction, ensuring genuine investigations and prosecutions of individuals who are suspected of having committed, or aided or abetted, in the commission of international crimes, including genocide, starting with their own nationals;

(d) Ensure that Israel, as well as States who have been complicit in the Gaza genocide, acknowledge the colossal harm done, commit to non-repetition, with measures for prevention, full reparations, including the full cost of the reconstruction of Gaza, for which the establishment of a register of damage with an accompanying verification and mass claims process is recommended;

(e) Within the General Assembly, develop a plan to end the unlawful and unsustainable status quo constituting the root cause of the latest escalation, which ultimately culminated in the Gaza genocide, including through the reconstitution of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid to comprehensively address the situation in Palestine, and stand ready to implement diplomatic, economic and political measures provided under the United Nations Charter in case of non-compliance by Israel;

(f) In the short term and as a temporary measure, in consultation with the State of Palestine, deploy an international protective presence to constrain the violence routinely used against Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory;

(g) Ensure that UNRWA is properly funded to enable it to meet the increased needs of Palestinians in Gaza.

98. The Special Rapporteur calls on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to enhance its efforts to end the current atrocities in Gaza, including by promoting and accurately applying International Law, notably the Genocide Convention, in the context of the oPt as a whole.....

The full 25 page report can be found and downloaded at:

https://www.un.org/unispal/document/anatomy-of-a-genocide-report-of-the-special-rapporteur-on-the-situation-of-human-rights-in-the-palestinian-territory-occupied-since-1967-to-human-rights-council-advance-unedited-version-a-hrc-55/

Further excerpts.....

III. Legal Framework

15. The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

(“the Convention”) codifies genocide as an international crime the prohibition of which is a

non-derogable peremptory norm (jus cogens). The erga omnes obligation to prevent and punish genocide binds all states under both the Convention and customary international law and requires them all to prevent and prosecute genocidal acts.31 Genocide cannot be justified under any circumstances, including purported self-defence.32 Complicity is expressly prohibited, giving rise to obligations for third states.33 16. The ICJ and the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) have jurisdiction over the crime of genocide,34 and so do State domestic courts. Prior to the establishment of the ICC, ad hoc international criminal tribunals advanced their interpretation of what constitutes genocide,35 its intent and required evidence.36

A. Constitutive elements of genocide

17. The Convention codifies genocide as “any of the [specified] acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.”37

Accordingly, the crime of genocide comprises two interconnected elements:

(a) The actus reus: the commission of any one or more specific acts against a protected group, namely:

(i) killing members of the group;

(ii) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(iii) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(iv) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(v) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.38

(b) The mens rea: the intent behind the commission of one or more of the abovementioned acts that must be established, which includes two intertwined elements:

(i) a general intention to carry out the criminal acts (dolus generalis), and

(ii) a specific intention to destroy the target group as such (dolus specialis).39

18. Both components must be satisfied for conduct to legally constitute genocide.40 The perpetrator’s intent to destroy the group in whole or in part distinguishes genocidal acts from other international crimes.41 Specific intent may be established by direct evidence, e.g. statements by high command or official documents, or inferred from patterns of conduct.42

In the latter case, the patterns of conduct or the manner in which the acts are perpetrated must be such that they “only point to the existence of such [genocidal] intent”,43 and the existence of intent results in “the only inference that could reasonably be drawn.”44

19. Evidence of the result is required to establish the commission of three of the underlying acts (killing, inflicting harm and transferring children).45 For the remaining two acts (inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group and preventing births), the evidentiary threshold requires proof of an intent to achieve a given outcome, rather than its achievement. 46 Accordingly, if displacement, ethnic cleansing or mass deportation are perpetrated with the requisite intent to destroy the protected group as such, this may amount to genocide.47 Similarly, these displacement actions can also be evidence of specific genocidal intent.48.....

IV. Genocidal Acts in Gaza

21. Genocidal acts can include deliberate actions or omissions, including the failure to protect the group from harm.54 The evidence presented in the following sections suggests Israel has committed at least three of the acts proscribed in the Convention.

A. “Killing Members of the Group”

22. This act encompasses deaths resulting from direct actions or arising from neglect, including those caused by deliberate starvation, disease or other survival-threatening conditions imposed on the group.55

23. Since 7 October, Israel has killed over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, equivalent to approximately 1.4 percent of its population, through lethal weapons and deliberate imposition of life-threatening conditions. By the end of February, a further 12,000 Palestinians were reported missing, presumed dead under the rubble.56

24. During the first months of the campaign, Israel’s army employed over 25,000 tons of explosives (equivalent to two nuclear bombs)57 on innumerable buildings, many of which were identified as targets by Artificial Intelligence.58 Israel used unguided munitions (“dumb bombs”)59 and 2000-pound “bunker buster” bombs on densely populated areas and “safe

zones”.60 In the initial weeks, Israeli forces killed around 250 people daily, including 100 children,61 in attacks obliterating entire neighbourhoods and essential infrastructure.62 Thousands were killed by bombing, sniper fire or in summary executions;63 thousands more were killed while fleeing via routes and in areas declared “safe” by Israel.64 The victims

included 125 journalists and 340 doctors, nurses and other health workers (four percent of Gaza’s healthcare personnel), students, academics, scientists and their family members.65

25. Seventy percent of recorded deaths have consistently been women and children. Israel

failed to prove that the remaining 30 percent, i.e. adult males, were active Hamas combatants – a necessary condition for them to be lawfully targeted. By early-December, Israel’s security advisors claimed the killing of “7,000 terrorists” in a stage of the campaign when less than 5,000 adult males in total had been identified among the casualties, thus implying that all adult males killed were “terrorists”.66 This is indicative of an intent to indiscriminately target members of the protected group, assimilating them to active fighter status by default.

26. Moreover, Israel’s heightened blockade of Gaza has caused death by starvation, including 10 children daily, by impeding access to vital supplies.67 Lack of hygiene and overcrowded shelters could cause more deaths than bombings,68 having created “the perfect storm for disease”.69 A quarter of Gaza’s population could die from preventable health conditions within a year.70....

When petty and ignorant gets voted into the Australian Parliament and fails to learn the rules governing behaviour over the next 8 years

 

Australian House of Representatives, Hansard, Question Time 26 March 2024:

Energy

Mr TED O'BRIEN (Fairfax) (14:36): My question goes to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. In the last week alone we learnt that Labor has officially broken its promise of a $275 reduction in household power bills by up to $1,000. Over 500 families a week are going on energy hardship arrangements, and the east coast gas market is facing material shortfalls from next year. Why is the Albanese government making life harder for Australian families already struggling to cope with Labor's cost crisis?

Honourable members interjecting—

The SPEAKER: Order! When House comes to order and there are no interjections I'll call the Minister for Climate Change and Energy.

Mr BOWEN (McMahon—Minister for Climate Change and Energy) (14:37): I thank the honourable gentleman for his question. It went to two things, as I heard the question. It went to energy prices and gas shortages. Let me deal with both—

Mr Ted O'Brien interjecting—

The SPEAKER: The minister will pause.

Mr Ted O'Brien interjecting—

The SPEAKER: Order! We're just going to do this in an orderly manner. The minister was asked a question by the member for Fairfax. Within 12 seconds the yelling, the screaming—that's not helpful, and he knows that's disrespectful. He knows that's against the standing orders The member for Fairfax will leave the chamber under 94(a). That sort of behaviour, as everyone knows, is completely unacceptable.

The member for Fairfax then left the chamber.

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Climate Change and Energy has the call    [my yellow highlighting]

On 31 July 2023 quarterly National Energy Bill Relief payments came into effect for electricity account holders with valid: Pensioner Concession Card issued by Services Australia or the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Health Care Card issued by Services Australia, or Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Gold Card marked with either 'War Widow', 'War Widower Pension', 'Totally and Permanently Incapacitated' (TPI) or 'Disability Pension' (EDA).

Together with NSW Government Household Rebate that totals electricity cost relief received by a single pensioner at between $199.72 - $202.30 a quarter or $798.88 - $809.20 over a 12 month period.

For a NSW pensioner living alone that total amount more than wipes out the costs equivalent to at least one - possibly almost two - of the four annual billing periods.

BACKGROUND

In December 2021 then Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese asserted that under the Labor Party's Powering Australia Plan annual average retail energy bills for households would be $275 lower by 2025.

On 26 May 2022 - four days after the federal election - Australia learned that the Australian Energy Regulator had been ordered to delay the release of its default market offer (DMO) from 1 May to 26 May 2022 by the outgoing Morrison government and that the new default market offer indicated across the board significant electricity price increases for households in the eastern states. This price rise followed the 4 May 2022 Reserve Bank announcement of the first official interest rate rise since 2010 - the first of 13 interest rate rises it has announced to date.

According to the Inquiry into the National Electricity Market Report, December 2023, within the National Energy Market:

in jurisdictions with retail competition, the majority of customers are on plans with prices which are determined by retailers. About 10% of residential customers and 20% of small business customers are on standard retail contracts with standing offer prices which are capped by the Default Market Offer or Victorian Default Offer.....

We analysed our sample of flat rate plans for over 5 million existing residential customers, assuming achievement of conditional discounts, and found that, in August 2023:

− 47% of all residential customers were on plans with a calculated annual cost equal to or higher than the default offer

− 42% of concession customers were on plans with a calculated annual cost equal to or higher than the default offer.....

96% of residential customers on plans with an unconditional price more than 25% above the default offer have a conditional discount in 2023. The customer-weighted average conditional discount for this group of customers is 29%, indicating they have not changed plan or retailer in the last 3 years since the introduction of rules on conditional discounts.

When we assume conditional discounts are achieved, customers with large conditional discounts are still paying prices around the default offer prices, suggesting that these customers would benefit from switching energy plan....

According to the AER Default market offer prices 2024–25: draft determination:

In NSW, residential customers without controlled load will see prices of $1,773 to $2,549 which range from a decrease of 3% to an increase of 0.9% (6.3% to 2.4% below forecast inflation) compared with DMO 5 [Default Market Offer 2023-24], depending on their distribution network region [metropolitan or country/regional areas]. Customers with controlled load will see prices of $2,476 to $2,964, amounting to decreases 0.4% to 7.1% (3.7% to 10.4% below forecast inflation).

It is noted that in the 1990s individual state governments and the Council of Australian Governments paved the road to privatisation of much of the national electricity supply industry and both Labor and the Liberal-Nationals Coalition have supported such privatisation down the years. The current Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy & Liberal MP for Fairfax would do well to remember that the next time he considers indulging in "yelling" and "screaming". 

Cartoons of the Week

 

Jon Kudelka

David Rowe

Matt Golding

Cathy Wilcox

Is the rental property or properties you own or manage capable of killing your tenants?

 

Are you on the board of a not-for-profit organisation that provides social or affordable rental housing? Do you have a residential property portfolio or do you just own a second home your rent out?

Then this post is written for you to consider.

Is the rental property or properties you own or manage capable of killing your tenants?

ACOSS Heat Study 2024, 1 March 2024, excerpt:

Hotter days and homes with poor energy performance create hot boxes that cannot be cooled

People variously described living in hot homes that they cannot cool as “awful”, “unliveable”, “miserable”, “unbearable”, “torture” and “a prison.”

Of the 1007 people who completed the survey, most (80.4%) said their home gets too hot in the summer.

Over half the people surveyed (56.7%) said they struggle to cool their home.

At a state and Territory level, more than half of people in Western Australia (67.2%), Queensland (66.1%), Australian Capital Territory (64.3%) and New South Wales (55.0%) said their home gets too hot and they struggle to cool it. Nearly half of the people surveyed in Victoria (45.8%), South Australia (45.7%) and the Northern Territory (45.5%) also had this experience. Tasmania was the only jurisdiction where all people surveyed said either their home was comfortable, or they are able to cool it when hot.

Some groups were more likely to struggle to cool their home:

• people renting in social housing (78.3%)

• people receiving income support (60.8%)

• people renting directly from a real estate agency (68.6%) or landlord (56.7%).

People in social or private rental properties have very limited control to make changes to their home to make it more energy efficient and resistant to extreme temperatures. They have limited control to install insulation, draft proofing, shading, fans or air conditioners, regardless of whether or not they can afford these changes. Of the 558 people living in social housing or private rental, most (69.7%) said they struggle to cool their home. [my yellow highlighting]

“I rent and there is no air con. Though I have fans, that can’t compete with high temps.

My apartment is north-west facing at top of the block.”

- Judith, New South Wales

People who indicated that they were in insecure housing (3%) also spoke of having limited control to cool their home when it gets too hot.

Healthy Futures, media release, 26 March 2024, excerpt:

Heat-related illnesses kill thousands of Australians every year (1) and roughly one-third of these deaths can be attributed to climate change (2,3). Heatwaves increase the risk of dehydration, kidney failure, heart attacks and strokes. Older people, children, people with pre-existing health conditions and people unable to afford air conditioning are most vulnerable. [my yellow highlighting]

Currently, many social housing dwellings are poor quality and prone to temperature extremes (4-6). A 2023 survey of people on low incomes by the Australian Council of Social Services found that 94.5% avoided using air conditioning because it is too expensive (7). Solar panels can significantly reduce air conditioning costs, and while 30% of Australian homes now have rooftop solar, rooftop solar coverage on social housing in New South Wales, for example, is only 7% (8).

Energy efficiency retrofits and renewable-powered air conditioning will not only protect people from extreme temperatures and drive down costs of living; they will also mitigate climate change and its health impacts in the long term by reducing dependence on polluting fossil fuel-based electricity.

Nature Climate Change, 11, pages 492–500 (2021)

Published 31 May 2021:

The burden of heat-related mortality attributable to recent human-induced climate change

A. M. Vicedo-Cabrera, N. Scovronick, F. Sera, D. Royé, R. Schneider, A. Tobias, C. Astrom, Y. Guo, Y. Honda, D. M. Hondula, R. Abrutzky, S. Tong, M. de Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coelho, P. H. Nascimento Saldiva, E. Lavigne, P. Matus Correa, N. Valdes Ortega, H. Kan, S. Osorio, J. Kyselý, A. Urban, H. Orru, E. Indermitte, J. J. K. Jaakkola, N. Ryti, M. Pascal, A. Schneider, K. Katsouyanni, E. Samoli, F. Mayvaneh, A. Entezari, P. Goodman, A. Zeka, P. Michelozzi, F. de’Donato, M. Hashizume, B. Alahmad, M. Hurtado Diaz, C. De La Cruz Valencia, A. Overcenco, D. Houthuijs, C. Ameling, S. Rao, F. Di Ruscio, G. Carrasco-Escobar, X. Seposo, S. Silva, J. Madureira, I. H. Holobaca, S. Fratianni, F. Acquaotta, H. Kim, W. Lee, C. Iniguez, B. Forsberg, M. S. Ragettli, Y. L. L. Guo, B. Y. Chen, S. Li, B. Armstrong, A. Aleman, A. Zanobetti, J. Schwartz, T. N. Dang, D. V. Dung, N. Gillett, A. Haines, M. Mengel, V. Huber & A. Gasparrini

Abstract

Climate change affects human health; however, there have been no large-scale, systematic efforts to quantify the heat-related human health impacts that have already occurred due to climate change. Here, we use empirical data from 732 locations in 43 countries to estimate the mortality burdens associated with the additional heat exposure that has resulted from recent human-induced warming, during the period 1991–2018. Across all study countries, we find that 37.0% (range 20.5–76.3%) of warm-season heat-related deaths can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change and that increased mortality is evident on every continent. Burdens varied geographically but were of the order of dozens to hundreds of deaths per year in many locations. Our findings support the urgent need for more ambitious mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize the public health impacts of climate change. [my yellow highlighting]

The Lancet, Planetary Health, Volume 5, Issue 7, E415-E425

Article published July 2021, excerpts:

Global, regional, and national burden of mortality associated with non-optimal ambient temperatures from 2000 to 2019: a three-stage modelling study

Prof Qi Zhao, PhD Prof Yuming Guo, PhD Tingting Ye, MSc Prof Antonio Gasparrini, PhD Prof Shilu Tong, PhD Ala Overcenco, PhD Aleš Urban, PhD Alexandra Schneider, PhD Alireza Entezari, PhD Ana Maria Vicedo-Cabrera, PhD Antonella Zanobetti, PhD Antonis Analitis, PhD Ariana Zeka, PhD Aurelio Tobias, PhD Baltazar Nunes, PhD Barrak Alahmad, MPH Prof Ben Armstrong, PhD Prof Bertil Forsberg, PhD Shih-Chun Pan, PhD Carmen Íñiguez, PhD Caroline Ameling, BS César De la Cruz Valencia, MSc Christofer Åström, PhD Danny Houthuijs, MSc Do Van Dung, PhD Dominic Royé, PhD Ene Indermitte, PhD Prof Eric Lavigne, PhD Fatemeh Mayvaneh, PhD Fiorella Acquaotta, PhD Francesca de'Donato, PhD Francesco Di Ruscio, PhD Francesco Sera, MSc Gabriel Carrasco-Escobar, MSc Prof Haidong Kan, PhD Hans Orru, PhD Prof Ho Kim, PhD Iulian-Horia Holobaca, PhD Jan Kyselý, PhD Joana Madureira, PhD Prof Joel Schwartz, PhD Prof Jouni J K Jaakkola, PhD Prof Klea Katsouyanni, PhD Prof Magali Hurtado Diaz, PhD Martina S Ragettli, PhD Prof Masahiro Hashizume, PhD Mathilde Pascal, PhD Micheline de Sousa Zanotti Stagliorio Coélho, PhD Nicolás Valdés Ortega, MSc Niilo Ryti, PhD Noah Scovronick, PhD Paola Michelozzi, MSc Patricia Matus Correa, MSc Prof Patrick Goodman, PhD Prof Paulo Hilario Nascimento Saldiva, PhD Rosana Abrutzky, MSc Samuel Osorio, MSc Shilpa Rao, PhD Simona Fratianni, PhD Tran Ngoc Dang, PhD Valentina Colistro, MSc Veronika Huber, PhD Whanhee Lee, PhD Xerxes Seposo, PhD Prof Yasushi Honda, PhD Prof Yue Leon Guo, PhD Prof Michelle L Bell, PhD Shanshan Li, PhD

Introduction

Earth's average surface temperature has risen at a rate of 0·07°C per decade since 1880, a rate that has nearly tripled since the 1990s.1 The acceleration of global warming has resulted in 19 of the 20 hottest years occurring after 2000 and an unprecedented frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme temperature events, such as heatwaves, worldwide. Exposure to non-optimal temperatures has been associated with a range of adverse health outcomes (eg, excess mortality and morbidity from various causes).2, 3, 4, 5, 6 All populations over the world are under certain threats from non-optimal temperatures, regardless of their ethnicity, location, sex, age, and socioeconomic status. For example, in China, 14·3% of non-accidental mortality in 2013–15 might have been related to non-optimal temperatures, with 11·6% of deaths explainable by cold exposure and 2·7% explainable by heat exposure.7 In the USA, the risk of mortality increased by 5–12% due to cold exposure and 5–10% due to heat exposure between 2000 and 2006.8 An association between ambient temperature and mortality risk has also been reported in India, Australia, the EU, South Africa, and other countries and regions. 9, 10, 11  [my yellow highlighting]

Figure 1 Average daily mean temperatures of the 750 locations from the 43 countries or territories included in the analysis

The colours represent the different ranges of average daily mean temperature during the data collection periods shown in the appendix (p 4).

Daily minimum and maximum temperatures between Jan 1, 2000, and Dec 31, 2019, were collected from the Global Daily Temperature dataset (grid size 0·5° × 0·5°) of the Climate Prediction Center. This dataset was developed, by use of a Shepard algorithm with observational data from 6000 to 7000 weather monitoring stations worldwide,15 as a benchmark for a range of reanalysis products and climate change models. Daily mean temperature was calculated by averaging daily minimum and maximum temperatures.

ScienceDirect

Energy and Buildings

Volume 272, 1 October 2022:

Integrated assessment of the extreme climatic conditions, thermal performance, vulnerability, and well-being in low-income housing in the subtropical climate of Australia

Shamila Haddad, Riccardo Paolini, Afroditi Synnefa, Lilian De Torres, Deo Prasad, Mattheos Santamouris

Abstract

Social housing stock worldwide can be characterised by poor indoor environmental quality and building thermal performance, which along with the increasing urban overheating put the low-income population at higher health risk. The dwellings’ thermal performance and the indoor environmental quality are often overlooked in the context of social housing compared to the general building stock in Australia. In the present study, the synergies between urban microclimate, indoor air temperature, housing characteristics and quality of life of residents have been investigated by employing subjective and objective assessment of indoor environmental quality in 106 low-income dwellings during the winter and summer of 2018–2019 in New South Wales. It further examines the impact of urban overheating and levels of income on indoor thermal conditions. The subjective method involved assessing the links between the type of housing in which low-income people live, energy bills, self-reported thermal sensation, health and well-being, and occupants’ behaviours. The results show that many dwellings operated outside the health and safety temperature limits for substantial periods. Indoor air temperatures reached 39.8 °C and the minimum temperature was about 5 °C. While the upper acceptability limit for indoor air temperature was 25.6 °C for 80 % satisfaction, periods of up to about 997 and 114 continuous hours above 26 °C and 32 °C were found in overheated buildings, respectively. Indoor overheating hours above 32 °C were recorded up to 238 % higher in Sydney’s western areas compared to eastern and inner suburbs. Similarly, residents in westerns suburbs and regions experience more outdoor overheating hours than those living near the eastern suburbs. This study highlights the interrelationships between ambient temperature, housing design, income, thermal comfort, energy use, and health and well-being in the context of social housing. The evidence of winter underheating and summer overheating suggests that improvements in building quality and urban heat mitigation are required to minimise the impacts of poor-performing housing and local climate. [my yellow highlighting]