Far reaching impact of El Niño heat explored at Alice Springs summit

Researchers, community members and government agencies came together in Alice Springs this week to plan for what is expected to be a sweltering summer in Central Australia, amid the prediction of an El Niño weather event. Advocates say heat disproportionately impacts those experiencing homelessness and overcrowding and want to ensure the region is ready for the heat to come. What's next? The Central Australian Heat Resilience Summit will work to establish a strategy for tackling a hotter future in the region. In the face of a potentially sweltering El Niño summer ahead, researchers, experts and health practitioners gathered in Alice Springs this week to develop a strategy for dealing with a hotter future in the arid region. Extreme heat has a ripple effect across every part of life in Central Australia, from health, to housing and homelessness, to the environment and even crime — particularly for those living in poverty. Climate and homelessness researcher Jon Swain was one of 12 presenters at the inaugural Central Australian Heat Resilience Summit yesterday. Mr Swain, who was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2024 to investigate international responses to extreme heat and homelessness, said Australia's work in that space was in its infancy and local government had an important role to play in bringing partnerships together. "Homelessness has always been a public health emergency," he said. "It is a community response, I know that's really cliched. "But in the absence of housing, we've sort of dropped the ball on that across the country and I think we're going to be doing triage work until we start building climate adaptive housing." Mr Swain is partnering with the Northern Territory's peak homelessness body, NT Shelter, and Anglicare, to help shape responses in Central Australia this summer, where homelessness rates continue to soar above the national average. What's in store? A spokesperson for the Bureau of Meteorology said its long-range forecast already showed most of Australia was likely to have above average temperatures over the coming months. They said because El Niño was just one influence of many in the climate system, the long-range forecast was the preferred guidance for upcoming weather. In Alice Springs, where last year residents sweltered through 63 days of 40 degrees Celsius or above throughout the year, the spokesperson said "early indications suggest above average and unusually high temperatures continue to be favoured" for early summer. "With the chance of unusually high minimum temperatures increasing in likelihood compared to over spring," they said. Summit a 'critical first step' The summit's steering committee, formed just a few months ago, was established in response to the "glaring need" for a a locally-led, evidence-based, multi-agency approach to heatwave management, heat resilience planning, and long-term climate adaptation in Central Australia, according to Alice Springs mayor, Asta Hill. "We're staring down the barrel of a supercharged El Niño for this summer and it's forecast that we'll have our hottest spring on record," Ms Hill said. "That's really concerning when you think about the summer of 2024-2025, which was the hottest year on Earth, where Central Australia had 100 days of the hottest temperatures in recorded history with an average maximum temperature of 40 degrees." Ms Hill said the summit was a "critical first step" in tackling an issue that would not be going away. Chief executive of summit host Desert Knowledge Australia, Jimmy Cocking, agreed. "The desert is a hot place," he said. "Alice Springs is a hot place in summer and this is about getting together to start talking about how we can start preparing for the summer to come." [Image text:] JON Su BMABARRA