How Do You Deal With Heat Deaths Caused By Warming? If You're A Right-Wing Think Tank, You Deny They Even Exist
When is a thing that is definitely a thing, not a thing? When you’re a thinktank trying to convince Coalition MPs they shouldn’t be backing policies to help Australia reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions. As reported by Guardian Australia, the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) gave a presentation to Coalition MPs in Canberra this week, telling them “heat deaths aren’t a thing” as part of a briefing to convince them to go cold on policies to get greenhouse gas emissions to net zero.
The CIS is a free market thinktank which – like many other thinktanks in Australia – does not disclose its funding. Most recently, the CIS has been critical of the shift away from fossil fuels to renewables in Australia while advocating for nuclear energy. So what is this thing that is not a thing all about? One slide presented to MPs was headlined “Heat deaths aren’t a thing” and pointed to a technical report on health that was released in September as part of the National Climate Risk Assessment. The CIS displayed charts showing estimates of temperature-related deaths for Sydney and Melbourne and claimed the risk of dying from cold was apparently greater than the risk from extreme heat.
The CIS pointed to the grey part of the curve that shows the risk from current conditions – rather than the green area that showed the risk if the world hits 3C of global warming. The point of the risk assessment was to outline the risks from future climate change – or, to put it another way, the green part of the chart is the important bit. That green curve shows how global warming increases the risk of deaths from heat in the two cities.
At 2C of global heating, the risk assessment said the number of estimated heat-related deaths in Sydney would rise by almost 200%. In Melbourne, they would more than double. A spokesperson for the Australian Climate Service, which compiled the risk assessment, said: “Australia’s National Climate Risk Assessment analysed a range [of] locations around Australia – including Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Bundaberg, Sunshine Coast, Townsville, Cairns, Darwin and Perth. “This analysis shows increases to heat-related mortality are likely at all these locations at a global warming level of 3C.” The spokesperson said extreme heat added risk “for many of the top causes of death, including cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, dementia and diabetes”.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/31/climate-risk-heat-deaths-fact-despite-coalition-thinktank
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