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‘It’s time to give up on normal’: what winter’s weird weather means for the warm months ahead

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-bowman-4397">David Bowman</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a></em></p> <p>Heavy winds struck south-east Australia over the weekend as a series of cold fronts moved across the continent. It followed a <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-weather-update-nsw-and-victoria-damaging-winds-high-fire-danger-warnings/0f9b19d8-dc81-44c9-8df4-679cbb67c055">high fire danger</a> in Sydney and other parts of New South Wales last week, and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-28/fire-grass-emergency-warning-firefighter-horningsea-park/104281180">a fire in south-west Sydney</a> that threatened homes.</p> <p>The severe weather rounds out a weird winter across Australia. The nation’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/26/winter-heat-records-broken-as-australia-set-for-more-temperatures-over-10c-above-average">hottest ever winter temperature was recorded</a> when Yampi Sound in Western Australia reached 41.6C on Tuesday. Elsewhere across Australia, winter temperatures have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/28/nsw-weather-forecast-fire-danger-warnings-sydney-bom">way above average</a>.</p> <p>We can look to the positives: spring <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/aug/26/australias-early-spring-brings-budding-flowers-chirping-birds-and-climate-alarm">flowers are blooming early</a>, and people have donned t-shirts and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/spring-comes-early-after-warm-winter-with-more-heat-on-the-way-20240828-p5k63i.html">hit the beach</a>. But there’s a frightening undercurrent to this weather.</p> <p>Earth’s climate has become dangerously <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/extreme-weather/">unstable</a>, and it’s only a matter of time before we get the bad combination of hot and dry weather, strong winds and a spark. None of this should come as a surprise. The sooner we stop expecting Australia’s weather to be “normal”, the sooner we can prepare for life in a wild climate.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/003XSg5AZBk?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <h2>The green is deceiving</h2> <p>The landscape around Sydney – and in fact, across much of south-east Australia – is very green at the moment. That’s because we’ve had a couple of years of good rains which triggered an explosion of vegetation growth.</p> <p>The below NASA satellite image reveals the picture in stark detail. It’s certainly lush out there at the moment.</p> <p>But the problem with climate change is that weather conditions can turn on a dime. This August was a case in point. At month’s end, much of Australia was hit by a record-breaking heatwave and <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/synoptic_col.shtml">damaging winds</a> – conditions that can dry out a green landscape with devastating efficiency, turning it into fuel for a bushfire.</p> <p>The dangerous fire weather that struck Sydney this week came as a surprise to many. But in reality, these abnormal conditions are the new normal.</p> <p>We must open our minds to this, if we want to be prepared.</p> <h2>A climate off the rails</h2> <p>The year 2023 was Earth’s <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/2023-was-warmest-year-modern-temperature-record#:%7E:text=The%20year%202023%20was%20the,decade%20(2014%E2%80%932023).">hottest on record</a>. And <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the-climate-2024-now-very-likely-to-be-warmest-year-on-record/">2024 looks likely</a> to be hotter still.</p> <p>In Australia, the last 12 months have provided all the evidence we need that our climate is wobbling on its rails.</p> <p>In October 2023, Victoria’s Gippsland region suffered unseasonably early bushfires, then soon after battled <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-05/gippsland-fires-and-multiple-floods-breeding-resilience/103179368">heavy rain and flooding</a>.</p> <p>And Tasmania, where I live, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-07/tas-drought-conditions-as-dry-tasmania-looking-very-brown/103546058">has been gripped by drought</a>. This February was Hobart’s third driest in 143 years. But over the weekend we were hammered by a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-01/tas-flood-warnings-severe-weather-sunday/104296092">deluge of rain and wind</a>.</p> <p>This climate instability is setting up bad fire conditions. Not everywhere in south-east Australia will be hit by fire, but it will happen somewhere. It could be the hinterlands or the coast. It will depend on how our erratic climate behaves in the coming months.</p> <p>Let’s stick with the Tasmania example. Sure, the surface soils are now nicely saturated. But that will lead to a burst of grass and other vegetation in spring. If the dry weather returns and the temperatures heat up in summer, the fine fuels will dry out and become dangerously combustible.</p> <p>All we need then is a windy day and a spark, and a nightmare fire will soon be racing across the landscape.</p> <h2>Canada on fire</h2> <p>Of course, Australia is not the only country facing climate instability and a worsening fire risk.</p> <p>Canada suffered a catastrophic wildfire season in 2023 – one of the most severe on record. It burnt almost 15 million hectares and forced the evacuation of 232,000 people.</p> <p>Smoke produced by the fires affected communities up to 1,000 km away, such as in southern Canada and on the east coast of the United States.</p> <p>A <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02653-6">recent paper</a> in the journal Nature Communications outlined why. It pinpointed early snowmelt, early-season drought conditions and intense heat. In fact, the average temperature in Canada from May to October last year was 2.2°C higher than the 30-year average.</p> <p>The researchers said human-caused climate change exacerbated the fire’s effects. It went on:</p> <blockquote> <p>The disproportionate effect a few days of extreme weather can have on the total area burned is also evident in this fire season, leading to worrisome prospects given projected future conditions.</p> </blockquote> <h2>Normal no longer exists</h2> <p>It’s always been difficult to forecast fire seasons in Australia, due to our natural climate variability.</p> <p>But now we are seeing climate instability <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/research/environmental-impacts/climate-change/state-of-the-climate/previous/state-of-the-climate-2018/australias-changing-climate">layering over itself</a>: background dryness, wet seasons bringing a proliferation of fuels, and above-average temperatures.</p> <p>Eventually we’ll get unlucky and experience extremely strong winds thrown into the mix. That’s when catastrophic fires are most likely to occur.</p> <p>As we saw in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-black-summer-of-fire-was-not-normal-and-we-can-prove-it-172506">Black Summer of 2019–20</a>, and again in Canada last year, some fires are so intense they completely overwhelm fire suppression strategies.</p> <p>Under climate change, the likelihood of getting a bad combination of weather conditions is increasing. So what’s the remedy?</p> <p>Australia really must start making our communities more resilient. Serious and sustained adaptation is needed. As my <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.adi8066">research has outlined</a>, this requires the careful integration of:</p> <ul> <li>community education programs</li> <li>research and development to design fire-safe homes, gardens, communities and bushland</li> <li>incentives and penalties to ensure adaptation measures are implemented.</li> </ul> <p>As this winter has shown, Australia’s climate is entering a different phase. It’s time to give up on “normal” weather. The game is changing and we have to adapt.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/237857/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-bowman-4397">David Bowman</a>, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-give-up-on-normal-what-winters-weird-weather-means-for-the-warm-months-ahead-237857">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

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Antarctic heat, wild Australian winter: what’s happening to the weather and what it means for the rest of the year

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/martin-jucker-379172">Martin Jucker</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a></em></p> <p>Australia’s south and east have seen <a href="https://theconversation.com/southern-australia-is-freezing-how-can-it-be-so-cold-in-a-warming-climate-233977">freezing temperatures</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/jul/29/australia-winter-weather-forecast-east-coast-colder-records">wild weather</a> this winter. At the same time, the continent as a whole – and the globe – have <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-03/australia-suffers-cold-winter-weather-despite-mild-forecast/104176284">continued to warm</a>.</p> <p>What’s going on? As ever, it’s hard to pinpoint a single cause for weather events. But a key player is likely an event unfolding high above Antarctica, which itself may have been triggered by a heatwave at surface level on the frozen continent.</p> <p>Here’s what’s happening – and what it might mean for the rest of this year’s weather.</p> <h2>When the stratosphere heats up</h2> <p>Out story begins in the cold air over Antarctica. July temperatures in the stratosphere, the layer of air stretching between altitudes of around 10 and 50 kilometres, are typically around –80°C.</p> <p>The winds are also very strong, averaging about 300 kilometres per hour in winter. These cold, fast winds loop around above the pole in what is called the <a href="https://sites.krieger.jhu.edu/waugh/research/polarvortex">stratospheric polar vortex</a>.</p> <p>Occasionally, persistent high air pressure in the lower atmosphere can influence large-scale waves that extend around the globe and up into the stratosphere. There they cause the strong winds to slow down, and the air high above the pole to become much warmer than normal.</p> <p>In extreme situations the stratospheric winds can completely break down, in what is called a “sudden stratospheric warming” event. These events occur every few years in the northern hemisphere, but only one has ever been observed in the south, in 2002 (though another <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-air-above-antarctica-is-suddenly-getting-warmer-heres-what-it-means-for-australia-123080">almost happened in 2019</a>).</p> <h2>Pushing polar weather our way</h2> <p>Once the polar vortex is disturbed, it can in turn influence the weather at the surface by steering weather systems from the Southern Ocean towards the Equator. However, this is a slow process.</p> <p>The impact at the surface may not be felt until <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0425.1">a few weeks or even months</a> after the initial weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex. Once it begins, the stratospheric influence can prevail for more weeks or months, and helps meteorologists make <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2601-2022">long-range weather forecasts</a>.</p> <p>In climate science terms, the weak stratospheric winds put an atmospheric system called the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/sam/">Southern Annular Mode</a> into a negative phase. The main effect of this on surface weather is to bring westerly winds further north.</p> <p>In winter, this means polar air outbreaks can reach places like Sydney more easily. As a result, we see more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI4134.1">rain over much of southern Australia</a>, and snowfall in alpine regions. In spring and summer it means westerly winds blow over the continent before reaching the east coast, bringing warm and dry air to southeastern Australia.</p> <p>The exact impact of a weaker polar vortex depends on how much and for how long the weather systems are being pushed further northward. It will also depend on other weather influencers such as El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole.</p> <h1>This winter’s weirdness</h1> <p>Unpicking exactly why any weather event occurs is tricky at the moment, because global weather has been absolutely crazy over the past 12 months or so. Global temperatures are <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-just-blew-past-1-5-degrees-game-over-on-climate-not-yet-213364">much higher than usual</a>, which is making unusual weather very common.</p> <p>But there are indications that the stratosphere is having some influence on our weather this winter.</p> <p>The stratospheric polar vortex started to warm in mid-July, and is about 20°C warmer than the long-term average. At the time of writing, the winds slowed down to about 230 kilometres per hour, 70 kilometres per hour slower than average.</p> <p>These numbers mean that, technically, the event does not qualify as a sudden stratospheric warming. However, further warming may still occur.</p> <p>If we look at how southern hemisphere winds have evolved in the past few weeks, we see a pattern which looks like what we would expect from a sudden stratospheric warming.</p> <p>First, we see warming in the stratosphere which is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095270">at first accompanied by a poleward shift of weather systems</a>.</p> <p>The stratosphere’s influence then propagates downward and seems to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0425.1">induce many weeks</a> of weather systems shifted towards the equator.</p> <p>This coincides with the period of cold and rainy weather along Australia’s east coast in late July and the beginning of August. Forecasts suggest the Southern Annular Mode will be a long way from normal conditions in the first half of August – four standard deviations below average, which is extremely rare.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=300&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=300&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=300&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=377&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=377&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/611211/original/file-20240804-19-sp862a.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=377&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="Diagram showing atmospheric warming and winds" /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">How initial warming high in the stratosphere ends up changing winds near the surface and pushing polar weather further north.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://stratobserve.com">Z.D. Lawrence / StratObserve / Annotated by Martin Jucker</a></span></figcaption></figure> <h1>A surface disturbance</h1> <p>The main reason for the polar vortex to slow down is disturbances from the surface. Weather over the Amundsen Sea near Antarctica in the South Pacific is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-22-0425.1">an important source</a> of these disturbances.</p> <p>This year, we have seen disturbances of this sort. There have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/01/antarctic-temperatures-rise-10c-above-average-in-near-record-heatwave">near-record surface temperatures around Antarctica</a>.</p> <p>These disturbances may be due to the globally high ocean temperatures, or even lingering effects of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-23-0437.1">eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano in 2022</a>. But more research will be required to confirm the causes.</p> <h1>What should we expect for the rest of the year?</h1> <p>There are two pathways until the end of the year. One is that the stratospheric winds and temperatures recover to their usual values and no longer influence surface weather. This is what the forecasts from <a href="https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov">Ozone Watch</a> seem to suggest.</p> <p>Another is that the stratosphere keeps warming and the winds keep being slower all the way into summer. In this scenario, we would expect a persistent negative Southern Annular Mode, which would mean a spring and potentially even summer with warmer and drier than usual weather over southeastern Australia, and a small ozone hole.</p> <p>The seasonal forecasting models from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts <a href="https://x.com/drahbutler/status/1819142206348759170?s=46&amp;t=sayfGwpo3_s310BwYpcdcQ">seem to favour this second scenario</a>.<!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/martin-jucker-379172">Martin Jucker</a>, Senior Lecturer in Atmospheric Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/antarctic-heat-wild-australian-winter-whats-happening-to-the-weather-and-what-it-means-for-the-rest-of-the-year-236067">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

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Dog care below freezing − how to keep your pet warm and safe from cold weather, road salt and more this winter

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/erik-christian-olstad-1505284">Erik Christian Olstad</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-california-davis-1312">University of California, Davis</a></em></p> <p>Time outside with your dog in the spring, summer and fall can be lovely. Visiting your favorite downtown café on a cool spring morning, going to a favorite dog park on a clear summer evening or going on walks along a river when the leaves are changing color are all wonderful when the weather is favorable. But in much of the country, when winter rolls around, previously hospitable conditions can <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-winter-miserable-for-wildlife-108734">quickly turn chilly and dangerous</a> for people and pups alike.</p> <p>Winter brings some unique challenges for dog owners, since dogs still need activity and socialization during colder seasons. Studies have shown that dog owners are almost 50% less likely to walk their dogs <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113302">when the weather gets cold</a>. Knowing the basics of winter safety is critical to maintaining a healthy lifestyle for your dog.</p> <p>I am an <a href="https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/erik-olstad">assistant professor</a> at the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine who weathered polar vortexes with my dog while living in Michigan early in my career. While I’ve since moved to sunny California, I’ve seen how quickly frigid temperatures can turn dangerous for pets.</p> <h2>Breed and age differences</h2> <p>Not all dogs have the same abilities to deal with cold weather. A short-coated dog like a Chihuahua is much more susceptible to the dangers of cold weather than a thick-coated husky. When the weather dips below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius), the well-acclimated husky may be comfortable, whereas the Chihuahua would shiver and be at risk of hypothermia.</p> <p>Additionally, if your dog is used to warm weather, but you decide to move to a colder region, the dog will need time to acclimate to that colder weather, even if they have a thick coat.</p> <p>Age also affects cold-weather resilience. Puppies and elderly dogs can’t withstand the chill as well as other dogs, but every dog is unique – each may have individual health conditions or physical attributes that make them more or less resilient to cold weather.</p> <h2>When is my dog too cold?</h2> <p>Pet owners should be able to recognize the symptoms of a dog that is getting too cold. Dogs will shiver, and some may vocalize or whine. Dogs may resist putting their feet down on the cold ground, or burrow, or try to find warmth in their environment when they are uncomfortable.</p> <p>Just like people, <a href="https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/frostbite-in-dogs">dogs can get frostbite</a>. And just like people, the signs can take days to appear, making it hard to assess them in the moment. The most common sites for frostbite in dogs are their ears and the tips of their tails. Some of the initial signs of frostbite are skin discoloring, turning paler than normal, or purple, gray or even black; red, blistered skin; swelling; pain at the site; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/ulcer">or ulceration</a>.</p> <p>Other <a href="https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/frostbite-in-dogs">serious signs of hypothermia</a> include sluggishness or lethargy, and if you observe them, please visit your veterinarian immediately. A good rule to live by is if it is too cold for you, it is too cold for your dog.</p> <p>Getting your dog a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/pets/best-winter-dog-coats-jackets">sweater or jacket</a> and <a href="https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/vets-corner/protect-dogs-paws-snow-ice-salt/">paw covers</a> can provide them with protection from the elements and keep them comfortable. Veterinarians also recommend closely monitoring your dog and limiting their time outside when the temperature nears the freezing point or drops below it.</p> <h2>Road salt dangers</h2> <p>Road salt that treats ice on streets and sidewalks <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/ice-salt-toxic-for-pets-1.5020088">can also harm dogs</a>. When dogs walk on the salt, the sharp, rough edges of the salt crystals can irritate the sensitive skin on their paws.</p> <p>Dogs will often lick their feet when they’re dirty, wet or irritated, and if they ingest any salt doing that, they may face GI upset, dehydration, kidney failure, seizures or even death. Even small amounts of pure salt can <a href="https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/pet-tips/my-dog-ate-road-salt-will-they-be-okay/">disrupt critical body functions</a> in dogs.</p> <p>Some companies make pet-safe salt, but in public it can be hard to tell what type of salt is on the ground. After walking your dog, wash off their feet or boots. You can also keep their paw fur trimmed to prevent snow from balling up or salt collecting in the fur. Applying a thin layer of petroleum jelly or <a href="https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/how-to-make-your-own-paw-balm-for-winter/">paw pad balm</a> to the skin of the paw pads can also help protect your pet’s paws from irritation.</p> <h2>Antifreeze risks</h2> <p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/antifreeze-chemical-substance">Antifreeze, or ethylene glycol</a>, is in most vehicles to prevent the fluids from freezing when it gets cold out. Some people pour antifreeze into their toilets when away from their home to prevent the water in the toilet from freezing.</p> <p>Antifreeze is an exceptionally dangerous chemical to dogs and cats, as it tastes sweet but can be deadly when ingested. If a pet ingests even a small amount of antifreeze, the substance causes a chemical cascade in their body that results in severe kidney damage. If left untreated, the pet may have <a href="https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/pet-owner-blog/antifreeze-poisoning/">permanent kidney damage or die</a>.</p> <p>There are safer antifreeze options on the market that use ingredients other than ethylene glycol. If your dog ingests antifreeze, please see your veterinarian immediately for treatment.</p> <p>When temperatures dip below freezing, the best thing pet owners can do is keep the time spent outside as minimal as possible. Try some <a href="https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/great-indoor-games-to-play-with-your-dog/">indoor activities</a>, like hide-and-seek with low-calorie treats, fetch or even an interactive obstacle course. Food puzzles can also keep your dog mentally engaged during indoor time.</p> <p>Although winter presents some unique challenges, it can still be an enjoyable and healthy time for you and your canine companion.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221709/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/erik-christian-olstad-1505284">Erik Christian Olstad</a>, Health Sciences Assistant Professor of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-california-davis-1312">University of California, Davis</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/dog-care-below-freezing-how-to-keep-your-pet-warm-and-safe-from-cold-weather-road-salt-and-more-this-winter-221709">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Family & Pets

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Rocky actor's cause of death revealed

<p>Carl Weathers' cause of death has been revealed, almost two weeks after his passing as his death certificate was made public. </p> <p>The <em>Rocky</em> actor passed away on February 1st at his home in California surrounded by his loved ones at the age of 76. </p> <p>As revealed in his death certificate, Weathers cause of death has been listed as  "atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease", which the <a title="Australian Institute of Health and Welfare" href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/heart-stroke-vascular-disease/hsvd-facts/contents/introduction#:~:text=Many%20forms%20of%20CVD%20are,the%20brain%20(causing%20stroke)." target="" rel="">Australian Institute of Health and Welfare</a> defines as "deposits of fat, cholesterol and other substances build up in the inner lining of the arteries to form plaque".</p> <p>The certificate also stated that his son Matthew Weathers was the one who alerted authorities to the death which was deemed "natural",  and also revealed that the family will be bringing home the actor's ashes after he is cremated.</p> <p>News of the actor's death was delivered by his family via a statement to <em><a href="https://deadline.com/2024/02/carl-weathers-dead-1235812684/#recipient_hashed=fd02bd8d6a1f88066ce877149ed7f5ed7c004c09a8d6405a72df635b0b72a9c3&recipient_salt=8a8541796b6f9250815f1cf923857155082cf85977a93234b6e9f290c850721c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deadline</a></em>, which read, "We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Carl Weathers."</p> <p>"Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life. Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognised worldwide and across generations. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, partner and friend."</p> <p>The actor is most well known for his role as Apollo Creed in four instalments of <em>Rocky</em>, as well as in <em>Predator</em>, <em>Happy Gilmore</em>, and <em>Arrested Development</em>, <em>The Mandalorian</em> and many others. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p>

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What does El Niño do to the weather in your state?

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kimberley-reid-767059">Kimberley Reid</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p>You’ve probably heard El Niño brings hot and dry weather to the eastern states, but what about the rest of Australia? Are we all in for a scorcher this summer?</p> <p>El Niño is what scientists call a <a href="https://www.climatechangeinaustralia.gov.au/en/overview/climate-system/australian-climate-influences/">climate driver</a>. But it’s just one of many.</p> <p>These climate drivers control year-to-year variations in the weather. Some years are hotter and drier, while others are cooler and wetter.</p> <p>Australia is particularly prone to weather whiplash because our continent is buffeted by climate drivers to our north, south, east and west. The dominant driver in your state may be one of the lesser-known influences.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iVhi1wq2sTY?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">Understanding Climate Drivers (Bureau of Meteorology)</span></figcaption></figure> <h2>East: El Niño Southern Oscillation</h2> <p>The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the resident climate driver in the Pacific Ocean and the driver with the biggest influence over Australian weather. Differences in sea surface temperatures and winds across the Pacific determine whether we swing towards El Niño (the boy) or La Niña (the girl).</p> <p><a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/about/?bookmark=enso">During the El Niño phase</a>, sea surface temperatures near South America are warmer than normal and they are cooler than normal off the coast of eastern Australia. Additionally, trade winds that blow from east to west across the Pacific weaken.</p> <p>El Niño brings hotter daytime temperatures, but often <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/#tabs=Pacific-Ocean&amp;pacific=History">cooler nights</a>. That’s because reduced cloud cover allows more heat to escape into space overnight. So the same process that increases the chances of heatwaves can also raise the <a href="https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/climate-weather/historical-frost-and-heat-maps-south-west-land-division">risk of frost</a> in Western Australia, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria.</p> <p>Australia as a whole is typically drier during an El Niño event. In the tropical regions, El Niño can delay the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/updates/articles/a008-el-nino-and-australia.shtml">onset of the monsoon and reduce the likelihood of tropical cyclones</a>. In the southern states, the hot and dry conditions increase the chance of intense bushfires.</p> <p>La Niña is the opposite phase. Waters off eastern Australia are warmer than usual, increasing the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/#tabs=Pacific-Ocean&amp;pacific=History&amp;enso-impacts=La-Ni%C3%B1a-impacts">chance of tropical cyclones</a> and an earlier start to the monsoon for WA, the Northern Territory and Queensland.</p> <p>So what does El Niño do to the weather in your state? Hover over your state in the interactive map to find out.</p> <p><iframe id="tc-infographic-1008" class="tc-infographic" style="border: none;" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/1008/7f37ae91389db072906b320ffd54d0fefd840c0d/site/index.html" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <h2>West: Indian Ocean Dipole</h2> <p>The <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/about/?bookmark=iod">Indian Ocean Dipole</a> is like ENSO’s Indian Ocean cousin. A positive Indian Ocean Dipole is declared when ocean temperatures near Africa are warmer than normal and ocean temperatures off the coast of Sumatra are cooler than usual.</p> <p>A positive dipole tends to bring warmer and drier conditions, particularly to western and central Australia. A negative Indian Ocean Dipole is the reverse and is associated with wetter than normal weather and an increase in <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/why-more-clouds-can-mean-less-rain-in-australia">northwest cloudbands</a>.</p> <h2>North: Madden-Julian Oscillation</h2> <p>The <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/about/?bookmark=mjo">Madden-Julian Oscillation</a> is a pulse of storms that start in the Indian Ocean, travel over Northern Australia and Indonesia and die in the Pacific Ocean. Ahead of the pulse, the air sinks, causing sunny and dry weather. Under the pulse is high storm activity and typically heavy rainfall.</p> <p>We describe the Madden-Julian Oscillation based on whether the pulse of storms is <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/mjo/">active or inactive</a> and where the storm activity is located on its path between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. As well as causing rainfall, the Madden-Julian Oscillation can control the timing of the monsoon onset and <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/about/?bookmark=tc">tropical cyclone formation</a>.</p> <h2>South: Southern Annular Mode</h2> <p>The <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/about/?bookmark=sam">Southern Annular Mode</a> controls the north and south position of the westerly winds that whizz around the globe in the Southern Ocean. When the winds are further north than usual, we call this the negative phase. But when the westerly wind move towards Antarctica, we call this the positive phase.</p> <p>The phase of the Southern Annular Mode <a href="https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/joc.1370">affects how many weather systems</a>, like cold fronts, make landfall over southern Australia. A positive mode may also draw tropical moist air south, which happened in 2022 during the extensive flooding over eastern Australia.</p> <h2>Climate drivers control the odds, but not the result</h2> <p>These four key climate drivers affect the weather on average (over months and seasons), but they do not dictate the exact day-to-day weather we experience. As the Gippsland region of Victoria <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/05/victoria-floods-flooding-warnings-gippsland-region-flood-and-fires-evacuation">saw in October</a>, heavy rainfall can still occur during an El Niño.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561494/original/file-20231124-16-ip8fja.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561494/original/file-20231124-16-ip8fja.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/561494/original/file-20231124-16-ip8fja.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=407&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561494/original/file-20231124-16-ip8fja.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=407&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561494/original/file-20231124-16-ip8fja.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=407&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561494/original/file-20231124-16-ip8fja.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=512&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561494/original/file-20231124-16-ip8fja.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=512&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/561494/original/file-20231124-16-ip8fja.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=512&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="Map of Australia showing the difference from normal rainfall during October 2023, with a large wet patch around Gippsland, Victoria." /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">Difference from normal rainfall during October 2023, showing defined wet area around Gippsland, Victoria surrounded by drier conditions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Bureau of Meteorology</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>Climate drivers are like a football coach. They can select the best players and develop ingenious strategies, but that doesn’t guarantee a win every time.</p> <p>Players can get injured on the field or simply have a bad game. These uncontrollable factors are challenging to predict and may change the result from what we would expect. Scientists call this stochasticity. The climate drivers are the football coach, but the day-to-day weather systems are the players.</p> <p>The Bureau of Meteorology <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/">releases an update</a> on all of these drivers every two weeks. The update explains which drivers are currently active and the forecast for the next few weeks.</p> <p>So, if you are wondering why the weather is cooler during summer, or it’s raining in the middle of the dry season, perhaps take a look at which driver is steering Australia’s weather at the moment.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218257/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kimberley-reid-767059">Kimberley Reid</a>, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Atmospheric Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-el-nino-do-to-the-weather-in-your-state-218257">original article</a>.</em></p>

Domestic Travel

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Extreme weather is landing more Australians in hospital – and heat is the biggest culprit

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/amy-peden-1136424">Amy Peden</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a></em></p> <p>Hospital admissions for injuries directly attributable to extreme weather events – such as heatwaves, bushfires and storms – have increased in Australia over the past decade.</p> <p>A new <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/injury/extreme-weather-injuries/contents/about">report</a> from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows 9,119 Australians were hospitalised for injuries from extreme weather from 2012-22 and 677 people died from these injuries in the decade up to 2021.</p> <p>In 2021-22, there were 754 injury hospitalisations directly related to extreme weather, compared to 576 in 2011-12.</p> <p>Extreme heat is responsible for most weather-related injuries. Exposure to prolonged natural heat can result in physical conditions ranging from mild heat stroke, to organ damage and <a href="https://www.dea.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DEA-Fact-Sheet_HeatwavesWEB.pdf">death</a>.</p> <p>As Australia heads into summer with an El Niño, it’s important understand and prepare for the health risks associated with extreme weather.</p> <h2>A spike every three years</h2> <p>Extreme weather-related hospitalisations have spiked at more than 1,000 cases every three years, with the spikes becoming progressively higher. There were:</p> <ul> <li>1,027 injury hospitalisations in 2013–14</li> <li>1,033 in 2016–17</li> <li>1,108 in 2019–20.</li> </ul> <p><iframe id="vLaas" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/vLaas/1/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <p>In each of these three years, extreme heat had the biggest impact on hospital admissions and deaths.</p> <p><iframe id="P03sm" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" style="border: none;" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/P03sm/1/" width="100%" height="400px" frameborder="0"></iframe></p> <p>Extreme heat accounted for 7,104 injury hospitalisations (78% of all injury hospitalisations) and 293 deaths (43% of all injury deaths) in the ten year period analysed.</p> <p>In 2011-12, there were 354 injury hospitalisations directly related to extreme heat. This rose to 579 by 2021-22.</p> <h2>El Niño and La Niña</h2> <p>Over the past three decades, extreme weather events have increased in <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/">frequency</a> and <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/state-of-the-climate/">severity</a>.</p> <p>In Australia, El Niño drives a period of reduced rainfall, warmer temperatures and increased bushfire danger.</p> <p>La Niña, on the other hand, is associated with above average rainfall, cooler daytime temperatures and increased chance of tropical cyclones and flood events.</p> <p>Although similar numbers of heatwave-related hospitalisations occurred in El Niño and La Niña years studied, the number of injuries related to bushfires was higher in El Niño years.</p> <p>During the 2019–20 bushfires, in the week beginning January 5 2020, there were 1,100 more hospitalisations than the previous five-year average, an 11% increase.</p> <p>Although El Niño hasn’t directly been proved as the cause for these three spikes, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, two of the three years (2016-17 and 2019-20) were El Niño summers. And the other year (2013-14) was the warmest neutral year on record at that time.</p> <h2>Regional differences</h2> <p>Exposure to excessive natural heat was the most common cause leading to injury hospitalisation for all the mainland states and territories. From 2019 to 2022, there were 2,143 hospital admissions related to extreme heat, including:</p> <ul> <li>717 patients from Queensland</li> <li>410 from Victoria</li> <li>348 from NSW</li> <li>267 from South Australia</li> <li>266 from Western Australia</li> <li>73 from the Northern Territory</li> <li>23 from the ACT</li> <li>19 from Tasmania.</li> </ul> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556987/original/file-20231101-27-3c98xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/556987/original/file-20231101-27-3c98xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=632&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556987/original/file-20231101-27-3c98xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=632&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556987/original/file-20231101-27-3c98xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=632&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556987/original/file-20231101-27-3c98xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=794&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556987/original/file-20231101-27-3c98xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=794&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/556987/original/file-20231101-27-3c98xm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=794&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/latest-reports">AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure> <p>The report also includes state and territory data on hospitalisations related to extreme cold and storms.</p> <p>During the ten-year period analysed, there were 773 injury hospitalisations and 242 deaths related to extreme cold. Extreme rain or storms accounted for 348 injury hospitalisations and 77 deaths.</p> <p>From 2019 to 2022, there were 191 hospitalisations related to extreme cold, with Victoria recording the highest number (51, compared to 40 in next-placed NSW). During the same period there were 111 hospitalisations related to rain and storms, with 52 occurring in NSW and 28 in Queensland.</p> <h2>What about for bushfires?</h2> <p>Over the ten-year period studied, there were 894 hospitalisations and 65 deaths related to bushfires.</p> <p>Bushfire-related injury hospitalisations and deaths peaked in 2019–20, an El Niño year with 174 hospitalisations and 35 deaths. The two most common injuries that result from bushfires are smoke inhalation and burns.</p> <p>During the 2019–20 bushfires, in the week beginning 5 January 2020 there were 1,100 more respiratory hospitalisations than the previous five-year average, an 11% increase.</p> <p>The greatest increase in the hospitalisation rate for burns was 30% in the week beginning December 15 2019 — 0.8 per 100,000 persons (about 210 hospitalisations), compared with the previous 5-year average of 0.6 per 100,000 (an average of 155 hospitalisations).</p> <h2>Some people are particularly vulnerable</h2> <p>Anyone can be affected by extreme weather-related injuries but some population groups are more at risk than others. This includes older people, children, people with disabilities, those with pre-existing or chronic health conditions, outdoor workers, and those with greater <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/1/813">socioeconomic disadvantage</a>.</p> <p>People in these groups may have reduced capacity to avoid or reduce the health impacts of extreme weather conditions, for example older people taking medication may be less able to regulate their body temperature. “Thermal inequity” includes people living in poor quality housing who have difficulty accessing adequate heating and cooling.</p> <p>For heat-related injuries between 2019–20 and 2021–22, people aged 65 and over were the most commonly admitted to hospital, followed by people aged 25–44.</p> <p>Across age groups, men had higher numbers of heat related injury hospitalisations than women. This difference was most notable among those aged 25-44 and 45-64 years, where over twice as many men were hospitalised due to extreme heat as women.</p> <h2>We still don’t have a full picture</h2> <p>The AIHW data only includes injuries which were serious enough for patients to be admitted to hospital; it doesn’t include cases where patients treated in an emergency department and sent home without being admitted.</p> <p>It includes injuries that were directly attributable to weather-related events but does not include injuries that were indirectly related. For example, it doesn’t include injuries from road traffic accidents that occur due to wet weather, since the primary cause of injury would be recorded as “transport”.</p> <p>Improved surveillance of weather-related injuries could help the health system and the community better prepare for responding to extreme weather conditions. For example, better data aids communities in predicting what resources will be needed during periods of extreme weather.</p> <p>A more complete picture of injuries during weather events could also be used to inform people of actions they can take to protect their own health. Given a predicted hot summer, this could be a matter of life or death.</p> <p><em>This article was co-authored by Sarah Ahmed and Heather Swanston from the Injuries and System Surveillance Unit at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.</em><!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216440/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/amy-peden-1136424">Amy Peden</a>, NHMRC Research Fellow, School of Population Health &amp; co-founder UNSW Beach Safety Research Group, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414">UNSW Sydney</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-weather-is-landing-more-australians-in-hospital-and-heat-is-the-biggest-culprit-216440">original article</a>.</em></p>

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10 driving tips to stay safe in wet weather

<p><strong>Driving in the rain? Follow these tips for safe driving in wet weather </strong></p> <p>This should go without saying, but reducing your speed – as long as you continue to keep with the flow of traffic, of course – is imperative when driving in the rain.</p> <p>After all, between the downpour and spray from other vehicles, heavy rain reduces visibility in all directions, and you need more time to react.</p> <p><strong>Keep your distance </strong></p> <p>Driving in the rain can be hazardous, and if ever there is an incident that requires you – or the driver in front you – to brake unexpectedly, you’ll want to have ample stopping distance on wet roads.</p> <p><strong>Avoid heavy breaking </strong></p> <p>While driving in the rain, you may find yourself in situations – whether you’re hydroplaning or finding yourself in a skid – that will tempt you to hit the brakes abruptly. Do your best to curb that impulse.</p> <p>Brakes can be affected greatly by water, losing a bit of their power when wet, which can be disastrous in an emergency. Easing off the brakes, slowing down and maintaining control of your vehicle is your best bet.</p> <p><strong>Keep both hands on the wheel </strong></p> <p>Control is of utmost importance when driving in the rain. After all, you need to be in command of your vehicle should an incident occur, and having both hands on the wheel while driving in the rain (no snacking or fiddling with the radio!) will ensure you can get out of a sticky situation quickly and efficiently.</p> <p><strong>Keep windows from fogging up</strong></p> <p>When driving in rain, windows tend to fog up as a result of the difference in temperatures inside and outside the car and can lead to decreased visibility. To stay safe and avoid accidents, simply press your car’s defrost button to clear-up the window.</p> <p>Turn on your A/C or roll down the windows by a couple of centimetres to remove the humidity from the vehicle and lower the temperature inside the car. If the issue persists, you may want to purchase a windshield cleaner and defogger.</p> <p><strong>Beware of hydroplaning </strong></p> <p>Hydroplaning happens when your car travels above the water without touching the ground. Given that a driver is left with little-to-no grip with the road and, thus, less control, this can be a dangerous set of circumstances. If you find yourself in such a situation, stay calm, ease off the brakes and do not turn your steering wheel; let your car slow down and the tires reattach to the road surface.</p> <p><strong>Avoid puddles</strong></p> <p>Windshield wipers should always be in working condition. Be vigilant about replacing them once per year, or whenever they start to leave streaks on the glass. Having wipers blades in tip-top shape ensures the best possible visibility when driving in the rain.</p> <p><strong>Stay home if you can </strong></p> <p>If you have no choice but to head outside during a heavy downpour, be sure to follow these driving tips. However, if you don’t have anywhere pressing to be, consider staying home and waiting it out until the storm subsides.</p> <p><strong>Keep your headlights on</strong></p> <p>With wet weather often comes fog and overall gloominess. With your surroundings slightly darkened, turning on your headlights ensures that you can see the road in front of you, and that other drivers can see you.</p> <p><strong>Ensure windshield wipers are in working order</strong></p> <p>Windshield wipers should always be in working condition. Be vigilant about replacing them once per year, or whenever they start to leave streaks on the glass. Having wipers blades in tip-top shape ensures the best possible visibility when driving in the rain.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/food-home-garden/home-tips/10-driving-tips-to-stay-safe-in-wet-weather" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest</a>. </em></p>

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Extreme weather events are exactly the time to talk about climate change – here’s why

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/josh-ettinger-1302389">Josh Ettinger</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-oxford-1260">University of Oxford</a></em></p> <p>Record-breaking heatwaves are <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/simultaneous-heatwaves-hit-northern-hemisphere-summer-of-extremes">sweeping across the northern hemisphere</a>, affecting large parts of southern Europe, the US and China. On July 24, Sicily recorded blistering temperatures <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66302472">of more than 47.5℃</a> and wildfires are currently <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/25/how-bad-are-wildfires-in-greece-what-caused-them-visual-guide-heatwave">tearing through Greece</a>. The heatwaves come as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/graphics/CANADA-WILDFIRE/HISTORIC/znvnzebmavl/">record numbers of fires continue to burn</a> across Canada.</p> <p>A <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66289489">study by the World Weather Attribution group</a> found that these heatwaves would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change. In fact, the heatwave that is affecting parts of China was made 50 times more likely by global warming. This is exactly what climate scientists have been warning us about for decades – climate change makes many types of extreme weather event <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-what-the-new-ipcc-report-says-about-extreme-weather-and-climate-change/">more likely, more intense and longer lasting</a>.</p> <p>As a PhD researcher examining extreme weather events and climate change communication, I have spent the past four years exploring how extreme weather events may affect the way the public feels, thinks and acts on climate change.</p> <p>One area of interest to researchers is how extreme weather events might reduce the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494422000676">“psychological distance”</a> associated with climate change. While climate change can feel abstract and vague, extreme weather is something people can experience firsthand.</p> <p>But <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab466a/meta">research offers contrasting results</a>. Some studies have found that extreme weather events lead to an <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1017/S0022381612000448?casa_token=dTns6Kvds1AAAAAA%3AkQcleVJ95vJUyh5Pg2vxvFEDbzfR1RsuOI131QCMO0wvdtIiLSVEq4EW6fZYwC7Yhraxj-NB9g">increased belief</a> that human-driven climate change is occurring and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-016-1837-4">greater support for climate action</a>. Others <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-021-03176-z">find no effects</a> or suggest that these effects are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959378017309135?via%3Dihub">only temporary</a>.</p> <p>However, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32412-y">we often underestimate</a> how much the public already cares about climate change. In Britain, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1164127/desnz-pat-spring-2023-net-zero-and-climate-change.pdf">just 4% of the public</a> say they are not at all concerned about climate change, while only <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/about/projects/global-warmings-six-americas/">11% of Americans</a> dismiss the issue.</p> <p>Given that <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/04/18/a-look-at-how-people-around-the-world-view-climate-change/">most people</a> are already concerned about climate change, an important question now is how to shift these existing concerns into action.</p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-talk-to-your-family-and-friends-about-the-new-ipcc-report-five-tips-from-climate-change-communication-research-202306">Talking about climate change</a> is a powerful way of mobilising climate action, and extreme weather events provide helpful climate conversation starters. We can use these moments as opportunities to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20563051231177930">engage our families, friends and communities</a> in discussions about how climate change may relate to these events and <a href="https://drawdown.org/solutions">what we can do about it</a>.</p> <p>So, if you decide to engage people you know in discussions about extreme weather and climate change, here are a few thoughts and guidelines to keep in mind.</p> <h2>1. Listen and share perspectives</h2> <p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0887618520300773">Extreme weather events can be traumatic</a> and climate change can evoke a wide range of emotional responses. If the person you are talking to is comfortable discussing the topic, ask them about their experiences and observations.</p> <p>Encourage them to tell stories and affirm the validity of their emotional response – whether they are afraid, angry, hopeful or worried. There is no one right way to feel about climate change, so listen to what they have to say and then share your own perspective too.</p> <h2>2. Talk about planning and preparation</h2> <p>When discussing extreme weather events, some people may link their experiences to climate change, while others focus on various local factors that contribute to extreme weather risks.</p> <p>The risks associated with extreme weather arise from a <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/">combination</a> of factors. These include the weather itself, which can be influenced by climate change, the level of exposure of people and places to extreme weather and the vulnerability of those to harm.</p> <p>Climate change, for instance, can affect the frequency, intensity and duration of wildfires. But emergency responses, evacuation procedures, firefighting and healthcare systems are crucially important to reduce risks. There are also significant equity and justice implications of extreme weather as different populations are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41885-020-00060-5">affected disproportionally</a>.</p> <p>It’s also important to bear in mind that while climate change affects many extreme weather events, it <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/climate-change-not-the-main-driver-of-madagascar-food-crisis-scientists-find/">does not necessarily affect every instance</a>. Weather systems are complex and there are <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-why-climate-change-isnt-always-to-blame-for-extreme-rainfall-206958">meteorological processes</a> that scientists are still trying to understand.</p> <p>We also need to make sure the roles of local planning and preparation in minimising the impact of these events are not overlooked.</p> <h2>3. Challenge arguments about politicising the weather</h2> <p>In May 2023, Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, dismissed concerns about global warming by claiming that he rejects the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/desantis-climate-change-fox-news-b2346211.html">“politicisation of the weather”</a>. Ontario premier, Doug Ford, recently <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-climate-change-forest-fires-politics-ford-stiles-1.6869071">made a similar argument</a> about Canada’s wildfires.</p> <p>In conversations, it’s possible that someone might accuse you too of “politicising” the weather. You can (respectfully) push back against this claim.</p> <p>This argument is a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/global-sustainability/article/discourses-of-climate-delay/7B11B722E3E3454BB6212378E32985A7">discourse of climate delay</a>. Rather than denying the existence of human-driven climate change, climate delay discourses try to shut down climate discussions and cast doubt on the need to act very quickly. These arguments disingenuously assert that acting on climate is too expensive, too late or that someone else should take care of it – and they are <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-multi-country-media-analysis-shows-scepticism-of-the-basic-science-is-dying-out-198303">becoming increasingly common</a>.</p> <p>If we shouldn’t discuss climate change when extreme weather occurs, then when is the right time? If we want to protect lives, we need to talk about – and act upon – the risks associated with extreme weather events and the disasters they can cause.</p> <p>If talking about climate change politicises the weather, so be it. The politics of climate denial and delay affected this summer’s weather, and our current decisions will shape our planet for thousands of years.</p> <p>The science is clear. Act now or face increasingly dire consequences.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210412/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/josh-ettinger-1302389">Josh Ettinger</a>, Doctoral researcher, School of Geography and the Environment, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-oxford-1260">University of Oxford</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-weather-events-are-exactly-the-time-to-talk-about-climate-change-heres-why-210412">original article</a>.</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Why is it so damn cold right now? A weather researcher explains

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tess-parker-111039">Tess Parker</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p>If you woke up this morning and thought “Gosh, it’s a bit brisk!”, you’re not alone.</p> <p>Temperatures plummeted across southeast Australia this week, with Weatherzone <a href="https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/coldest-morning-in-5-years-for-parts-of-nsw-qld-act/1342232">reporting</a> Canberra’s low of -7.2ºC was “its lowest temperature since 2018 and the lowest for June since 1986.”</p> <p>Sydney experienced its <a href="https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/coldest-morning-in-5-years-for-parts-of-nsw-qld-act/1342232">coldest June morning</a> today since 2010, with a temperature of 5.2ºC. In Victoria, temperatures of -7.2ºC were <a href="https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/coldest-morning-in-5-years-for-parts-of-nsw-qld-act/1342232">recorded</a>.</p> <p>So what’s going on? Here’s what you need to know.</p> <h2>A big pool of Antarctic air</h2> <p>It started off at the beginning of the week, when a low-pressure system saw a big cold front come through southeastern Australia on Sunday night. This basically means a lot of very cold air came from higher latitudes close to Antarctica, and swept across southeastern Australia.</p> <p>So everywhere from Melbourne to Sydney to South Australia was getting this big pool of incredibly cold air at the start of the week.</p> <p>Even though that cold front has now moved off over the Tasman Sea, it has left behind it a really big high-pressure system sitting over the southeast of Australia.</p> <p>This has led to calm conditions, where winds are very light and the skies are clear with not a lot of cloud during the day or night.</p> <p>So it’s getting really, really cold in the early mornings because there are no clouds to act as an insulating blanket for the Earth and trap the heat that the planet radiates to space overnight.</p> <p>The result, in many places, has been very cold temperatures before sunrise, often with a lot of frost.</p> <h2>Remind me, what’s a low-pressure system? And what’s a high-pressure system?</h2> <p>The air above the Earth’s surface has mass, but it’s not uniform everywhere. The way the atmosphere is moved around by what’s going on at upper levels will mean the mass of the atmosphere is redistributed. That transmits down to the surface where we live and causes low- and high-pressure systems.</p> <p>At some points the pressure is lower because there’s not as much mass of air above that point over the Earth. This is what we call a low-pressure system. Air rises in a low, reducing the pressure at the surface.</p> <p>The winds around the low are clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. So when that low is approaching Australia, the winds on the western side are bringing air from near Antarctica. That’s why a low-pressure system in Australia often means cooler conditions.</p> <p>At some points above the Earth, the pressure is higher because the mass of air above that area is greater. This is what we call a high-pressure system. Air descends in a high, raising the surface pressure.</p> <p>High-pressure systems tend to mean very calm weather; the wind isn’t very strong, the skies tend to be clear and there’s little to no cloud.</p> <p>In summer, that means the sun is baking down all day onto Earth with no protection from cloud. So a high-pressure system in summer can mean a heatwave.</p> <p>In winter, the lack of cloud in a high-pressure system means that much of the heat the Earth has absorbed during the day just re-radiates out to space again, as the cloud isn’t there to act as a blanket and keep all that heat in.</p> <p>That’s why a high-pressure system can mean very cold weather in winter, especially when there are lower levels of sunlight coming in to warm up the Earth in the first place.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208182/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tess-parker-111039">Tess Parker</a>, Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/monash-university-1065">Monash University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-so-damn-cold-right-now-a-weather-researcher-explains-208182">original article</a>.</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Survival guide for cool-weather camping

<p>Being comfortable is king to enjoying winter camping. Take a look at our suggestions to help you gear up and get out there when the weather is cold but the campfire is hot.</p> <p><strong>Shelter</strong></p> <p>It’s one of the most important aspects of camping in any season! Your bedding and shelter arrangement should be both comfortable and functional so you can always create a home away from home.</p> <p>Winter around the country can mean different things – for instance, some camp spots during winter are often covered in a blanket of snow where as at others the temperature is cool at night and moderate during the day. Depending on the type of winter you’ll be camping in, you’ll need to adjust the shelter and bedding options to suit but there are a few things every winter camper should be aware off.</p> <p>Make sure your tent pegs are suited to the type of ground where you’ll pitch your tent or shelter. For example in light sandy soil conditions a strong sand peg should work well however in snow covered ground or loose sand locations a longer sturdier peg will keep you tent and shelter firmly in place. Laying a ground sheet underneath your tent will help keep the dew and moisture away from your gear. Pitching your tent or shelter in a location that will take advantage of the morning sun is also a nice touch and one that your fellow campers will appreciate!</p> <p>If you’re likely to be camping in light snow or humid conditions, it’s a good idea to pitch a flysheet over your tent or even a tarpaulin. This will trap “dead air” between your tent and the cold air providing extra insulation and will also help reduce moisture and condensation from appearing in your tent. The same principle applies to your swag – a fly and ground sheet will help prevent condensation and creating a layer of dead air will help give you a comfy and warmer sleep.</p> <p>Hot Tip: Using a ground sheet underneath your tent or swag will help prevent moisture from entering your shelter from below.</p> <p><strong>Sleeping</strong></p> <p>What you sleep in or on can also affect your comfort level. In cold conditions the humble airbed isn’t the best insulator so it’s a good option to use a self-inflating or 4WD mattress. These bedding options also trap dead air and your body warmth will help to create a warmer bed of air to sleep on. Your choice of sleeping bag is also important so it’s a good idea to match the bag to the climate. Along with fill material and weight, sleeping bags are also rated on their insulation or temperature rating. Sleeping bags such as the Blackwolf Zambezie sleeping bag are suited to sub-zero temperatures where as less insulating sleeping bags will keep you comfortable in plus zero degree conditions. Some of us “feel the cold” more than others so it’s important to take this into consideration when deciding what sleeping bag you’ll need. We recommend using a sleeping bag rated to below the temperatures you’re expecting – it’s easier to make yourself cool than it is to add extra warmth.</p> <p>Hot Tip: Hot water bottles are great additions for a warm sleep.</p> <p><strong>What to wear</strong></p> <p>Dressing in layers is a great idea as this allows you to adjust your warmth to suit the conditions or activity. A base layer such as thermals will control your core body temperature. An insulating or middle layer such as a fleece jumper will create a micro-climate and trap warmth around your body. An outer or protective layer will protect you from the elements such as wind or rain.</p> <p><em>How To: As most of your body heat is lost through your extremities don’t forget your accessories such as beanies, scarves and gloves.</em></p> <p><strong>Cooking</strong></p> <p>Everyone loves a warming winter meal and we all have memories of a great winter stew or roast. Bringing these meals to the campsite in winter and sharing them with family and friends are easily some of the best pleasures of winter camping. Cooking over a fire is a great idea as the campers are able to enjoy the warmth provided by the fire whilst the meal is cooking. Options for cooking over a fire include the traditional cast iron cookware or fire grill and cast iron plate. Cooking options not needing a fire include thermal cookers such as the Dream Pot or a Cobb cooker. These options are perfect for cooking delicious stews, soups and roasts.</p> <p><em>Hot Tip: When cooking with cast iron, charcoal briquettes provide a long burning and consistent source of heat making cast iron cooking so easy! If firewood is your heat source, don’t forget to bring enough firewood for your heating and cooking needs!</em></p> <p>With a heap of easy cooking options available there’s no reason why you can’t be sharing a warm and hearty stew or sensational roast on your next winter camping trip.</p> <p><strong>Winter warmers</strong></p> <p>Comfort and warmth are key for enjoying your winter camping experience. Hot showers and gas heaters are just two options that will make your winter camping trip much easier and more comfortable. Gas heaters are great as they are portable and provide a constant source of heat. Water heaters such as the Coleman Hot Water on Demand system are popular options for winter campers – who can say no to an instant warm shower or hot cuppa?</p> <p><em>First appeared on the Ray’s Outdoors website. <a href="http://blog.raysoutdoors.com.au/expertadvice?category=Camping" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Visit them</strong> </a><a href="http://blog.raysoutdoors.com.au/expertadvice?category=Camping" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>here for more camping advice</strong></a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="../lifestyle/caravan-camping/2015/05/4-campfire-recipes/">4 simple and delicious campfire recipes you should try</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="../lifestyle/caravan-camping/2015/05/outdoor-photography-tips/">Outdoor photography tips to help you take shots like a pro</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="../lifestyle/caravan-camping/2015/03/bush-damper-recipe/">How to make bush damper</a></strong></em></span></p>

Domestic Travel

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3 reasons you feel hungrier and crave comfort foods when the weather turns cold

<p>As we move through Autumn, parts of Australia are starting to see cooler weather. For some of us, that can mean increasing feelings of hunger and cravings for “comfort food” such as as pasta, stews and ramen. </p> <p>But what’s happening in our body?</p> <h2>3 things change when it gets cold</h2> <p>1. Our body conserves heat</p> <p>It sends this energy it conserves to our internal organs so they can maintain their temperature and work properly. The body can also perform heat-generating activities (such as shivering), which uses <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21261804/">energy</a>. The body will then look for additional energy through calories from eating food. </p> <p>2. Our body warms up when eating</p> <p>When we eat, the body needs to expend energy to digest, absorb, and metabolise the nutrients. This process requires the use of energy, which generates heat in the body, leading to an increase in body temperature termed “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36012714/">diet-induced thermogenesis</a>”. </p> <p>However, the amount of energy used to keep us warm is quite <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/nonshivering-thermogenesis">modest</a>.</p> <p>3. Some people experience a drop in the neurotransmitter called serotonin</p> <p>This is partly because the rate our body produces serotonin is related to <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673602117375.pdf">sunlight</a>, which is lower in winter. </p> <p>Serotonin helps to regulate mood, appetite, and sleep, among other things. When serotonin levels are low, it can lead to increased hunger and decreased satiety (feeling that you’ve had enough to eat), making us feel hungrier and less satisfied after meals.</p> <h2>Why we love comfort food in winter</h2> <p>Many of us struggle to eat salad in winter and crave mum’s chicken soup or a slow cooked, brothy ramen. </p> <p>Research shows our brain detects the cold weather and looks for warm <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/9/6/592">food</a>. Warm food can provide a sense of comfort and cosiness, which is particularly appealing during the colder months when we spend more time indoors.</p> <p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878450X16300786">Comfort food</a> can mean something different for everyone. They are foods we reach for in periods of stress, nostalgia, discomfort (like being cold), or emotional turmoil. For most of us, the foods we often over-indulge in are rich and carbohydrate heavy.</p> <p>A drop in serotonin has also been shown to stimulate an urge to eat more <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16340952/">carbohydrate-rich</a> foods such as gnocchi, pasta, ragout, mashed potatoes. </p> <h2>What happens to those extra calories?</h2> <p>If you consume more energy in cooler weather, some of it will be used to keep you warm. Beyond keeping us warm, extra calories we consume are stored.</p> <p>While most humans today have access to a year-round food supply, some research shows our bodies may still have some leftover instincts related to storing energy for the cooler months when food was harder to come by. </p> <p>This behaviour may also be driven by biological factors, such as changes in hormone levels that regulate appetite and <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2013.00140/full">metabolism</a>.</p> <p>A fundamental principle of nutrition and metabolism is that the balance between the energy content of food eaten and energy expended to maintain life and to perform physical work affects body <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3302369/">weight</a>. This means any excess energy that we don’t use will be stored – usually as fat.</p> <p>Using mathematical modelling, researchers <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2015.2443">have predicted</a>weight gain is more likely when food is harder to find. Storing fat is an insurance against the risk of failing to find food, which for pre-industrial humans was most likely to happen in winter.</p> <h2>It doesn’t have to be unhealthy</h2> <p>No matter your cravings during cooler months, it’s important to remember your own personal health and wellbeing goals. </p> <p>If you’re worried about excess energy intake, a change in season is a great time to rethink healthy food choices. Including lots of whole fresh vegetables is key: think soups, curries, casseroles, and so on. </p> <p>Including protein (such as meat, fish, eggs, legumes) will keep you feeling fuller for longer.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/3-reasons-you-feel-hungrier-and-crave-comfort-foods-when-the-weather-turns-cold-202831" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Food & Wine

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Today weather presenter weds former AFL star in lavish ceremony

<p>Former Miss Universe Australia and <em>Today </em>weather presenter Scherri-Lee has said “I do” in a stunning ceremony with fiancé - now husband - Daniel Venables.</p> <p>Scherri-Lee announced their happy news with a post to social media, sharing an image of herself swept up in a kiss by the former West Coast Eagles player, along with the caption “The Venables”.</p> <p>The couple’s big day was held at the Swan Valley’s popular Old Young’s restaurant - a venue decked out for the event, and on full display across the stories of their guests. </p> <p>Those same stories also revealed that Scherri-Lee walked down the aisle to an acoustic cover of Tina Turner and Jimmy Barnes’ ‘(Simply) The Best’, and that they had their first dance to Leon Bridges’ ‘Beyond’. </p> <p>Their invite list featured a number of notable names - from Eagles players’ partners to stylists, TV personalities, and some of Scherri-Le’s own co-hosts. And the love for the newlyweds didn’t stop with their celebrations, with many of their guests - and fans - making use of Scherri-Lee’s comment section to congratulate them. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp_nlYGPTvX/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp_nlYGPTvX/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Scherri-Lee Biggs (@scherri)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“The best day!!” declared fellow TV presenter and wedding guest Tracy Vo. </p> <p>“Absolutely stunning gorgeous girl!” gushed Natalia Cooper, who punctuated her message with two red hearts, “congratulations to you both”.</p> <p>“Congratulations!!!” wrote <em>The Block</em>’s Shaynna Blaze. </p> <p>“Obsessed with this. What a wedding,” admitted one celebrant, who shared Scherri-Lee’s post as well. </p> <p>“So happy to cater for your wedding at @oldyoungskitchen guys!” wrote Chef Rizzy, whose team handled the event’s food. “I hope the night was as great as it all sounded from the kitchen!”</p> <p>“Congratulations!! I hope the day was everything you dreamed of,” came <em>Perth News</em> reporter Kelly Neves’ well-wishes. </p> <p>The congratulations went on and on, with hundreds delighted to share in the happy moment through the screen. A moment they hadn’t had to wait for long, with the couple only having announced their engagement in December of 2022. </p> <p>At the time, Scherri-Lee had announced the news with a post to her Instagram account. It featured a picture of the two embracing at sunset on the beach, and the caption “Christmas came early this year. Forever isn’t enough with you.”</p> <p>The news came after Scherri-Lee had been spotted wearing a diamond ring while at another wedding. Their relationship had only been confirmed in May of the same year, after rumours had begun to swirl that the two had paired up. </p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Relationships

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Floods, cyclones, thunderstorms: is climate change to blame for New Zealand’s summer of extreme weather?

<p>The final months of New Zealand’s summer carried a massive sting, bringing “unprecedented” rainfalls several times over, from widespread flooding in Auckland at the end of January to ex-tropical Cyclone Gabrielle dumping record rains and causing devastating floods across the east coast of the North Island.</p> <p>After all that, New Zealand experienced spells of thunderstorms, bringing repeat floods to parts of Auckland and then Gisborne.</p> <p>The obvious question is what role climate change plays in these record-breaking rainfalls.</p> <p>Some answers come from the international <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/">World Weather Attribution</a> team, which today released a <a href="https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/102624/10/Scientific%20report%20New%20Zealand%20Floods.pdf">rapid assessment</a> which shows very heavy rain, like that associated with Cyclone Gabrielle, has become about four times more common in the region and extreme downpours now drop 30% more rain.</p> <p>The team analysed weather data from several stations, which show the observed increase in heavy rain. It then used computer models to compare the climate as it is today, after about 1.2℃ of global warming since the late 1800s, with the climate of the past.</p> <p>The small size of the analysed region meant the team could not quantify the extent to which human-caused warming is responsible for the observed increase in heavy rain in this part of New Zealand, but concluded it was the likely cause.</p> <h2>More energy in the atmosphere and ocean</h2> <p>Many factors add to the strength of a storm and the intensity of rainfall, especially for short bursts. A crucial factor is always the amount of energy available.</p> <p>Climate change is increasing that amount of energy in two main ways. First, everything is getting warmer. Rising sea surface temperatures provide <a href="https://sciencebrief.org/uploads/reviews/ScienceBrief_Review_CYCLONES_Mar2021.pdf">extra fuel for the development of tropical cyclones</a> because they grow by heating from below.</p> <p>Warmer seas mean potentially faster development of tropical cyclones, and stronger, more vigorous storms overall. Sea temperatures must be at least 26.5℃ to support the build-up of a tropical cyclone. So, as the oceans warm, these storms can reach farther from the equator.</p> <p>Second, warmer air can hold more water vapour. Every degree of warming increases the maximum amount of water vapour by around 7%. That extra water vapour tends to fall out as extra rain, but it also provides extra energy to a storm.</p> <h2>Driving waves further inland</h2> <p>The energy it takes to evaporate the water from the ocean surface and turn it into vapour is released again when the vapour condenses back into liquid water. A moister airmass heats the atmosphere more when clouds and rain form, making the air more buoyant and able to rise up more. This creates deeper, more vigorous clouds with stronger updrafts, and again more rain.</p> <p>Stronger updrafts in a storm mean more air will have to be drawn into the storm near the Earth’s surface, ensuring more “convergence” of air and moisture (water vapour). That’s why, even though a degree of warming translates to 7% more water vapour in the air, we can get 20% increases, or larger, in extreme rainfalls.</p> <p>All of this extra energy can contribute to making the storm stronger overall, with stronger winds and lower air pressures in its centre. This seems to have happened with Cyclone Gabrielle. Record low pressures were recorded at a few North Island locations as the storm passed.</p> <p>The low pressures act like a vacuum cleaner, sucking the sea surface up above normal sea level. The strong winds can then drive waves much further inland. Add in a bit of sea-level rise, and coastal inundation can get a lot worse a lot quicker.</p> <p>As the climate continues to change, storm intensity is likely to increase on average, as sea levels continue to rise. Those effects together are bound to lead to more dramatic coastal erosion and inundation.</p> <h2>Thunderstorms riding warming seas</h2> <p>These processes work for thunderstorms as well. A thunder cloud often starts as a buoyant mass of air over a warm surface. As the air rises (or convects), it cools and forces water vapour to condense back to liquid water, releasing heat and increasing the buoyancy and speed of the rising air.</p> <p>Again, that allows more moist air to be drawn into the cloud, and that convergence of moist air can increase rainfall amounts well above the 7% per degree of warming, for short bursts of very intense convection. The more intense the convection, the stronger the convergence of moisture and the heavier the resulting rainfall.</p> <p>Tropical cyclones have rings of thunderstorms around their eye during the time when they are truly tropical storms. As they transition out of the tropics into our neighbourhood, they change their structure but retain a lot of the moisture and buoyancy of the air. An ex-tropical cyclone like Gabrielle, moving over very warm water, can pack a devastating punch.</p> <p>Why has New Zealand had so much of this very heavy rain during the weeks from late January? Partly it’s the very warm ocean waters around Aotearoa (up to marine heatwave conditions) and farther north into the Coral Sea. That itself is partly related to the ongoing La Niña event in the tropical Pacific, which tends to pile up warm water (and tropical cyclones) in the west.</p> <p>But it is also related to ongoing global warming. As sea temperatures increase, it becomes easier to reach heatwave conditions. Warmer seas load the atmosphere with water vapour.</p> <p>Partly, too, the air over the North Island has been unusually “unstable” lately, very warm near ground level but cooler than normal higher up. That makes the buoyance in thunderstorms work even better and more strongly, encouraging very heavy rainfall.</p> <p>These conditions seem to have eased now, but severe thunderstorms continue to develop. As we move from summer into autumn, as the warmest seas move eastwards away from us and as La Niña fades in the tropics, the chances of a repeat event are diminishing. For now at least.</p> <p>But if we continue to warm the climate with more greenhouse gas emissions, we will continue to load the dice towards more very heavy rain over Aotearoa. Let us hope those regions and communities so badly affected by recent events have a chance to dry out, rebuild and recover before the next extreme weather.</p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/floods-cyclones-thunderstorms-is-climate-change-to-blame-for-new-zealands-summer-of-extreme-weather-201161" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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How to survive camping in bad weather

<p>When the elements are wild and unpredictable it can make for an unpleasant camping trip. Here are our top tips to surviving camping in bad weather.</p> <p><strong>Don’t go</strong></p> <p>This seems like the obvious choice but many people still move forward with their trip as it’s a waste of all the time, planning and preparation. However, nobody is likely to have a good time, especially grandchildren, if you’re cooped up in a tent or caravan for the entire weekend. If it’s possible to postpone the trip, then do it.</p> <p><strong>Location</strong></p> <p>Even if conditions are sunny and perfect when you arrive at your campsite, always think about the best location to pitch your tent if it does happen to rain and storm. Where will the water run? When the water hits the tent, will it pool in the indentation you set up? Steer clear of gullies, river banks in case of flash flooding.</p> <p><strong>Extra shelter</strong></p> <p>When you’re camping in the winter months, even if it’s forecast to be clear, it’s always a good idea to bring extra shelter. You can use this extra shelter to provide protection for your camping gear, provide an area to cook and eat, and if there is a leak in your tent, use as a tarp.</p> <p><strong>Wet-weather gear</strong></p> <p>When you need to move around a campsite in the rain, appropriate wet-weather gear will keep you dry and warm. That means waterproof jackets and hoods, ponchos and rubber boots – and when it comes to camping gear, you do usually get what you pay for. Make sure you have a few sets of spare clothes as well in case you do get a drenching.</p> <p><strong>Waterproof bags</strong></p> <p>Sometimes your gear will get wet and since you don’t want wet things in your sleeping area, store them in bags. Ensure dry things stay dry by also storing them in waterproof bags.</p> <p><strong>Wet weather activities</strong></p> <p>Be prepared with an arsenal of wet weather activities such as cards, board games, puzzles and crosswords to do. Otherwise, go for a drive and explore the area – you could find some great spots to check out when the weather is dry or have some fun splashing in the mud and rain with the grandkids.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Domestic Travel

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5 places in the world that have the best weather

<p>It’s just about the first question anyone asks you when you return from a holiday – “how was the weather?” It can make or break a holiday. These are the places you should go if you want to leave the wellies at home.</p> <p><strong>Los Angeles</strong></p> <p><strong><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/los-angeles.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /><br /></strong></p> <p>California is a pretty safe bet all round and has easily the best weather in the USA. You can expect “perfect” days for close to half the year. That means an average temperature between 12 and 23 degrees Celsius, and temperatures that never fall below seven degrees or rise above 30. And on top of that there’s almost no rain. Sounds pretty good to us.</p> <p><strong>Canary Islands</strong></p> <p><strong><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/canary-islands2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /><br /></strong></p> <p>This island group off the northern coast of West Africa is technically a Spanish territory and a popular holiday spot for the Brits. With an average temperature of 22 degrees Celsius all year round and no extremes of hot or cold, the Canaries claim to have the best climate in the world. The capital, Gran Canaria, gets a minimum of six hours of sunshine per day in winter and up to almost eight hours in summer. Plenty of time then to indulge in a round of golf – there are eight world-class courses on the island.</p> <p><strong>Sao Paulo</strong></p> <p><strong><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/sao-paulo.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /><br /></strong></p> <p>Whatever time of year you visit Brazil’s largest city, you probably won’t need to bring a jacket. Even in the middle of winter (July or August) temperatures rarely get below 20 degrees and they don’t rise much over 30 in summer. It can be rainy, but the city rarely gets big storms. Its inland location and high elevation work together to create a perfect microclimate. This is in contrast to the coastal city of Rio de Janeiro, just 400 kilometres away, which swelters through the hotter months.</p> <p><strong>Lisbon</strong></p> <p><strong><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/lisbon.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /><br /></strong></p> <p>The Portuguese capital sits on the Atlantic coast, which moderates its weather and helps it avoid the uncomfortably hot summers that you’ll find in many other European capitals. Lisbon gets around 30 inches of rain each year but the majority of this falls during winter, so you’re likely to get weeks on end of pure sunshine in the summer months.</p> <p><strong>Sydney</strong></p> <p><strong><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/10/opera-house7.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /><br /></strong></p> <p>Despite Australia having some of the most extreme weather in the world, Sydney is famous for its dry summers, mild winters and endless hours of sparkling sunshine. Even a run of cold days is quickly forgotten when the harbour city turns on a warm, sunny August afternoon.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty Images</em></p>

International Travel

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The wild weather of La Niña could wipe out vast stretches of Australia’s beaches and sand dunes

<p>Australians along the east cost are bracing for yet another round of heavy rainfall this weekend, after a band of stormy weather soaked <a href="https://theconversation.com/on-our-wettest-days-stormclouds-can-dump-30-trillion-litres-of-water-across-australia-191949">most of the continent</a> this week.</p> <p>The Bureau of Meteorology has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUsNQ_-fNbM&amp;ab_channel=BureauofMeteorology">alerted</a> southern inland Queensland, eastern New South Wales, Victoria and northern Tasmania to ongoing flood risks, as the rain falls on already flooded or saturated catchments.</p> <p>This widespread wet weather heralds <a href="https://theconversation.com/la-nina-3-years-in-a-row-a-climate-scientist-on-what-flood-weary-australians-can-expect-this-summer-190542">Australia’s rare third</a> back-to-back La Niña, which goes hand-in-hand with heavy rain. There is, however, another pressing issue arising from La Niña events: coastal erosion.</p> <p>The wild weather associated with La Niña will drive more erosion along Australia’s east coast – enough to wipe out entire stretches of beaches and dunes, if all factors align. So, it’s important we heed lessons from past storms and plan ahead, as climate change <a href="https://theconversation.com/2022s-supercharged-summer-of-climate-extremes-how-global-warming-and-la-nina-fueled-disasters-on-top-of-disasters-190546">will only exacerbate</a> future coastal disasters.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QUsNQ_-fNbM?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">Ongoing flood risk for eastern Australia | Bureau of Meteorology.</span></figcaption></figure> <h2>How La Niña batters coastlines</h2> <p>La Niña is associated with warmer waters in the western Pacific Ocean, which increase storminess off Australia’s east coast. Chances of a higher number of tropical cyclones increase, as do the chances of cyclones travelling further south and further inland, and of more frequent passages of east coast lows.</p> <p>Australians had a taste of this in 1967, when the Gold Coast was hit by the largest storm cluster on record, made up of four cyclones and three east coast lows within six months. 1967 wasn’t even an official La Niña year, with the index just below the La Niña threshold.</p> <p>Such frequency didn’t allow beaches to recover between storms, and the overall erosion was unprecedented. It <a href="https://impact.griffith.edu.au/seawall-engineering/">forced many</a> local residents to use anything on hand, even cars, to protect their properties and other infrastructure.</p> <p>Official La Niña events occurred soon after. This included a double-dip La Niña between 1970 and 1972, followed by a triple-dip La Niña between 1973 and 1976.</p> <p>These events fuelled two cyclones in 1972, two in 1974 and one in 1976, wreaking havoc along the entire east coast of Australia. Indeed, 1967 and 1974 are considered <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/northern-beaches/one-of-the-storms-that-hit-us-in-1974-was-among-the-three-worst-since-white-settlement/news-story/0cd5ca874d6b37206762d8485e4eb442">record years</a> for storm-induced coastal erosion.</p> <p>Studies show the extreme erosion of 1974 was caused by a combination of large waves coinciding with <a href="https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1066&amp;context=scipapers">above-average high tides</a>. It took over ten years for the sand to come back to the beach and for <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4300263">dunes to recover</a>. However, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00437-2">recent studies</a> also show single extreme storms can bring back considerable amounts of sand from deeper waters.</p> <p>La Niña also modifies the direction of waves along the east coast, resulting in waves approaching from a more easterly direction (<a href="https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/forecaster-blog-la-nina-conditions-mean-surf/97904">anticlockwise</a>).</p> <p>This subtle change has huge implications when it comes to erosion of otherwise more sheltered <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/how-la-nina-may-damage-queensland-tourist-hot-spots-041805874.html">north-facing beaches</a>. We saw this during the recent, and relatively weaker, double La Niña of 2016-18.</p> <p>In 2016, an east coast low of only moderate intensity produced extreme erosion, similar to that of 1974. Scenes of destruction along NSW – including a collapsed backyard pool on <a href="https://www.wrl.unsw.edu.au/news/wrl-coastal-engineers-document-the-worst-erosion-at-collaroy-since-1974">Collaroy Beach</a> – are now <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-06/nsw-weather-large-waves-hit-collaroy-coast/7479846#:%7E:text=NSW%20weather%3A%20Collaroy%20swimming%20pool%20collapses%20as%20giant%20waves%20hit%20beachfront%20houses,-Posted%20Sun%205&amp;text=Waves%20up%20to%208%20metres,as%20wild%20weather%20battered%20NSW.">iconic</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-05792-1">This is largely</a> because wave direction deviated from the average by 45 degrees anticlockwise, during winter solstice spring tides when water levels are higher.</p> <h2>All ducks aligned?</h2> <p>The current triple-dip La Niña started in 2020. Based on Australia’s limited record since 1900, we know the final events in such sequences tend to be the weakest.</p> <p>However, when it comes to coastal hazards, history tells us smaller but more frequent storms can cause as much or more erosion than one large event. This is mostly about the combination of storm direction, sequencing and high water levels.</p> <p>For example, Bribie Island in Queensland was hit by relatively large easterly waves from ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth earlier this year, coinciding with above-average high tides. This caused the island to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-27/bribie-island-changes-could-create-new-caloundra-bar/100777038#:%7E:text=Ex%2DTropical%20Cyclone%20Seth%20has,splitting%20the%20island%20in%20two.">split in two</a> and form a 300-metre wide passage of seawater.</p> <p>Further, the prolonged period of easterly waves since 2020 has already taken a toll on beaches and dunes in Australia.</p> <p>Traditionally, spring is the season when sand is transported onshore under fair-weather waves, building back wide beaches and tall dunes nearest to the sea. However, beaches haven’t had time to fully recover from the previous two years, which makes them more vulnerable to future erosion.</p> <p>Repeated <a href="https://www.usc.edu.au/about/structure/schools/school-of-science-technology-and-engineering/coast4d">elevation measurements</a> by our team and citizen scientists along beaches in the Sunshine Coast and Noosa show shorelines have eroded more than 10m landwards since the beginning of this year. As the photo below shows, 2-3m high erosion scarps (which look like small cliffs) have formed along dunes due to frequent heavy rainfalls and waves.</p> <p>On the other hand, we can also see that the wet weather has led to greater growth of vegetation on dunes, such as native spinifex and dune bean.</p> <p>Experiments in laboratory settings show dune vegetation can dissipate up to 40-50% of the water level reached as a result of waves, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272771418307583">reduce erosion</a>. But whether this increase in dune vegetation mitigates further erosion remains to be seen.</p> <h2>A challenging future</h2> <p>The chances of witnessing coastal hazards similar to those in 1967 or 1974 in the coming season are real and, in the unfortunate case they materialise, we should be ready to act. Councils and communities need to prepare ahead and work together towards recovery if disaster strikes using, for example, sand nourishment and sandbags.</p> <p>Looking ahead, it remains essential to further our understanding about coastal dynamics – especially in a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-03/gold-coast-no-stranger-to-beach-erosion/101381812#:%7E:text=a%20huge%20challenge-,Millions%20spent%20to%20protect%20Gold%20Coast%20beaches%2C%20but,change%20poses%20a%20huge%20challenge&amp;text=In%201967%2C%20Gold%20Coast%20beaches,and%20ruined%20the%20tourist%20season.">changing climate</a> – so we can better manage densely populated coastal regions.</p> <p>After all, much of what we know about the dynamics of Australia’s east coast has been supported by coastal monitoring programs, which were implemented <a href="https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/coastal-observation-program-engineering">along Queensland</a> and NSW after the 1967 and 1974 storms.</p> <p>Scientists predict that La Niña conditions along the east coast of Australia – such as warmer waters, higher sea levels, stronger waves and more waves coming from the east – will become <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-fuelled-wave-patterns-pose-an-erosion-risk-for-developing-countries-184064">the norm under climate change</a>.</p> <p>It’s crucial we start having a serious conversation about coastal adaptation strategies, including implementing a <a href="https://www.usc.edu.au/about/unisc-news/news-archive/2022/january/coastal-erosion-may-force-retreat-from-the-sea#:%7E:text=Giving%20up%20land%20to%20the,of%20the%20Sunshine%20Coast%20researcher.">managed retreat</a>. The longer we take, the higher the costs will be.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191941/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/javier-leon-262182">Javier Leon</a>, Senior lecturer, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-the-sunshine-coast-1068">University of the Sunshine Coast</a></em></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-wild-weather-of-la-nina-could-wipe-out-vast-stretches-of-australias-beaches-and-sand-dunes-191941">original article</a>.</p>

Domestic Travel

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Best cold weather workouts you can do from the comfort of home

<p>Although most of us will be tempted to hit snooze on those colder mornings, the chilly season doesn’t mean we have to hibernate our fitness routines. With a vast library of content, <a href="https://www.onepeloton.com.au/home-trial?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=search&amp;utm_campaign=portfolio&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwi8iXBhBeEiwAKbUofZ2cinznTjKrGyrUBTp1P0c5mEGYJTdPZxy1Yq9RiKTabUq6095i1RoCEb4QAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peloton</a> provides a digital fitness experience with convenience at its centre – allowing you to work out anywhere, anytime, all while catering to your individual fitness goals and ability.</p> <p>Leading cardiologist and member of the Peloton Health and Wellness Advisory Council, Dr Suzanne Steinbaum says, “Exercising throughout the year can decrease the major risk factors associated with heart disease and help manage cholesterol, blood pressure, sugars, weight and stress levels, which in turn can dilate the arteries and maximise cardiac functioning. Structured workouts, like Peloton’s range of HIIT and low-impact classes, can motivate and help you stay on track, while also being part of a vibrant community that supports and cheers you on, while working out at your own pace”.</p> <p>Peloton has curated the best workouts to overcome the winter woes and develop a regular fitness routine.</p> <p><strong>1. Strength:</strong> Lean muscle mass naturally diminishes as we age. Choose a strength training class, starting with a beginner workout such as <a href="https://members.onepeloton.co.uk/classes/player/dda80a799bf64531ba1e2947a0896df6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20 Min Strength Roll Call with Jess Sims</a> to develop stronger bones, manage chronic conditions as well as regulate your weight and improve your heart's strength. The great thing about strength training in winter is you can do it inside with whatever you have available or use the <a href="https://www.onepeloton.com.au/guide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peloton Guide</a> if you want to take your workout to the next level. With the Peloton Guide, or by using the Peloton App on your TV, you can turn your living room into a home gym enhanced by a guided workout experience with features including a Movement Tracker to keep you accountable. It’s always important to remember that even when working out from home, ensure that you are exercising safely and are aware of your surroundings in order to prevent injury.</p> <p><strong>2. Warm-up class:</strong> A 15-minute warm-up can be the push you need to get going in the morning. Instead of reading the news or flicking through the TV channels, scroll through the various warm-up classes offered on the <a href="https://www.onepeloton.com/app" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peloton App</a>. A warm-up class can help you feel more energised and focused for the day ahead and is good for the mind as well as the body. Once you've started, you’ll likely feel exhilarated from the music that you'll want to keep going with a full class. Sometimes just getting started is the hardest part, but once your heart starts beating and blood starts flowing, you will feel energised and motivated particularly on those cold days..</p> <p><strong>3. </strong><strong>Cardio:</strong> If you'd rather just get right into it, a solid HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) workout usually lasts 20 to 30 minutes, with classes available on the Peloton App as well as the Bike. The winter air can help improve your endurance for cardio exercises, therefore you might use this indoor time to get into a routine and create a regular exercise program. Plan to take a 20-30 minute class where you get your heart rate up at least 5 days a week for maximum benefit. Choose a HIIT class from the <a href="https://www.onepeloton.com/app" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peloton App</a> to boost your heart rate to not only keep you warm but improve your cardiovascular health.</p> <p>Dr Suzanne Steinbaum, says: “High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, workouts are popular for a reason: Studies suggest that these types of workouts can deliver the same health benefits of a moderate workout in half the time. It’s true, but only if you strike the right balance and work out on a consistent basis.”</p> <p><strong>4. </strong><strong>Yoga:</strong> Although yoga might not be the first thing that comes to mind for a great workout, it actually has a lot of benefits. It helps to improve your flexibility, balance and increase you stamina. A 2016 <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4728955/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> also found that even bi-weekly yoga sessions can help with recovery, boost performance, strengthen your mental game, help with breathing more efficiently, open up tight hips, quads and hamstrings and build core strength.</p> <p><strong>5. Meditation:</strong> If you’re looking for something to help you stay centred all winter long, try a Peloton Meditation class from the comfort of your warm home. Bring a little more calm, focus and positive energy into your life, with Peloton’s range of meditation classes, many of whom are led by Peloton’s first Australian Instructor,<a href="https://www.onepeloton.com.au/instructors/peloton_l" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kirra Michel</a>. Kirra stresses the importance of incorporating mindfulness and meditation in your exercise routine. “I might have a bias towards yoga and meditation as it's my passion. But, it's special in the fact it incorporates physical activity, breath work, and mindfulness. All of which positively affect cardiovascular risk factors. Modalities we conveniently have on the OnePeloton App!”</p> <p><strong>About Peloton</strong></p> <p>Peloton makes fitness entertaining, approachable, effective, and convenient while fostering social connections that motivate its members to commit to their fitness journeys. Australians can access the Peloton library with thousands of live and on-demand classes at the gym, at home, on the road, or wherever they choose to move, through the Peloton Bike, Peloton Bike+, Peloton Guide, and Peloton App on any iOS or Android device and select smart TVs. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.onepeloton.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.onepeloton.com.au</a>.</p> <p><strong>About Suzanne Steinbaum</strong><br />Dr Suzanne Steinbaum is a leader in preventive cardiology, now in private practice in New York, and she is a paid consultant of the Peloton Health and Wellness Advisory Council. She is the CEO/Founder of Heart-Tech Health, a technology-based prevention model. She published Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum’s Heart Book: Every Woman’s Guide to a Heart-Healthy Life, and has been a national spokesperson for Go Red through the American Heart Association for 18 years. Follow her on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/drsteinbaum/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a> and<a href="https://twitter.com/drsteinbaum?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>.</p> <p><em>Image: Supplied</em></p>

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Wild weather warning for more life-threatening floods

<p dir="ltr">Areas of Australia that have been hit hardest by the recent floods have been warned to brace themselves for more as another dangerous weather system looms, per <em><a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/northern-nsw-told-to-brace-for-intense-rainfalls/news-story/f7ac2f4edd6e96a602748f7b0d25c731" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news.com.au</a></em>.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-e6a026eb-7fff-3357-f740-a1172dd9b2df"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued a severe weather warning for southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales on Sunday afternoon that said up to 200mm of isolated rainfall across these regions could lead to life-threatening flash flooding.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Severe Weather Update: Dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding for SE QLD, NE NSW. Video current: 12:00pm AEDT 27 March 2022 </p> <p>Know your weather, know your risk. For the latest forecasts and warnings, go to our website <a href="https://t.co/4W35o8zIoh">https://t.co/4W35o8zIoh</a> or the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BOMWeather?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BOMWeather</a> app <a href="https://t.co/eD0MJKxLsP">pic.twitter.com/eD0MJKxLsP</a></p> <p>— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) <a href="https://twitter.com/BOM_au/status/1507912530957545472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">An emergency warning was also issued for the Queensland town of Dalby, after it received more than 160mm of rainfall within the last 24 hours.</p> <p dir="ltr">The council for the Western Downs Region - which includes Dalby - issued a “watch and act” alert on Monday morning at 5.10am urging residents in low-lying areas to “warn neighbours, secure property and belongings, and prepare to move to higher ground”.</p> <p dir="ltr">It comes as the Sunshine Coast town of Pomona recorded 121mm of rain, and as 106mm was recorded at Bowenville to the west of Dalby, and south at Black Mountain.</p> <p dir="ltr">BOM has issued severe weather warnings for heavy rain for the Northern Rivers, Northern Tablelands, parts of the NSW Mid North Coast and southeast Queensland.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Locally INTENSE RAINFALL leading to dangerous and LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODING is possible with thunderstorms with six-hourly rainfall totals in excess of 180mm,” BOM’s warning for northern NSW <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDN21037.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Flood warnings have also been issued for several areas of northern NSW, including Tweed Heads, Murwillumbah, Byron Bay, Lismore, Yamba, Grafton, Coffs Harbour and Dorrigo.</p> <p dir="ltr">Heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected to hit the region on Monday and Tuesday, with the rain expected to continue for the first half of the week.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-8db6685d-7fff-54cc-c934-c8e0c32e0526"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">With catchments in the area already saturated from the previous bouts of severe weather, minor to moderate flooding could be possible in the first half of the week.</p> <p><iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNSWSESRichmondTweed%2Fposts%2F342257557942937&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500" width="500" height="660" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p dir="ltr">“We have seen flash flooding and fatalities occur (during the recent floods) with only moderate falls,” BOM meteorologist Jackson Browne said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“And with heavy-to-intense falls, this risk is very significant for flash flooding.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Browne said parts of southeast Queensland were also under a general flood watch, with between 60 and 100mm of rain predicted to lash Brisbane on Monday before the weather system moves south into NSW on Tuesday.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s likely that we’ll see (the general flood watch) extended into the Brisbane and Sunshine Coast areas,” he said.<br />“There are minor flood watches over large areas of New South Wales and moderate (flood watches) especially up in recently flood-affected parts of northern New South Wales.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The Northern NSW SES has also warned that several regions are at risk, including:</p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Tweed and Rouse Rivers – minor to moderate flooding</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Brunswick River and Marshalls Creek – minor flooding</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Wilsons River – minor to moderate flooding</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Richmond River – minor to moderate flooding</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Clarence River – minor flooding</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Orara River – minor to moderate flooding</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Coffs Coast – localised flooding</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Bellinger and Kalang Rivers – minor flooding</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Nambucca River – minor flooding</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Hastings River – minor flooding</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Camden Haven River – minor flooding</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Manning and Gloucester Rivers – minor flooding</p> </li> <li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Wollombi Brook and Lower Hunter River – minor flooding </p> </li> </ul> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4ab1c735-7fff-78eb-af51-e919aa07829f"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

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Too wet? Too cold? Too hot? This is how weather affects the trips we make

<p>What sorts of weather lead us to change our daily travel behaviour? How do we respond to scorching heatwaves, sapping humidity, snow and frost, strong winds, or torrential rain?</p> <p>International research shows weather is important in shaping our everyday movements.</p> <p>The research evidence suggests that bad weather can lead to planned journeys being rescheduled, rerouted or cancelled. The consequences of these shifts in daily travel choices can include increases in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136192090800165X">traffic congestion and accidents</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136192090800165X">travel delays</a>, mental stress, environmental pollution and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856416306206">general travel dissatisfaction</a>.</p> <p>Because people who travel by bike or walking are most likely to change travel plans in bad weather, some cities are responding with innovations such as <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/the-netherlands-tests-heated-cycle-lanes/a-18971259">heated bicycle lanes</a> and <a href="https://blogs.ethz.ch/engagingmobility/2016/05/03/bicycle-infrastructure-in-singapore-an-overview/">sheltered walkways</a>.</p> <h2>Why do we care about the weather?</h2> <p>Firstly, how do we explain people’s common obsession with the weather? As <a href="http://www.samueljohnson.com/england.html">Samuel Johnson</a> put it:</p> <p>"It is commonly observed, that when two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather; they are in haste to tell each other, what each must already know, that it is hot or cold, bright or cloudy, windy or calm."</p> <p>Is this merely a keen (or indeed pathological) interest in the subject?</p> <p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Watching-English-Hidden-Rules-Behaviour/dp/0340818867">According to Kate Fox</a>, these conversations are not really about the weather at all: weather-speak is a form of code, evolved to help Anglo-Australian people overcome their natural reserve and actually talk to one another. Weather-speak can be used as a greeting, as an ice-breaker, and/or as a “filler” subject.</p> <p>But, beyond its use as a conversation prop and social bonding device, weather does play a major role in travel behaviour. And as the impacts of climate change unfold, the severity and frequency of extreme weather conditions are predicted to increase.</p> <p>A better understanding of the dynamics of the relationship between weather and travel behaviour is thus essential in helping cities develop transport and planning responses appropriate to their conditions.</p> <h2>What do we know about the weather-travel relationship?</h2> <p>It’s complicated. Research on the weather-travel relationship has revealed that effects vary by mode of travel.</p> <p>Active transport, such as walking and cycling, is the most vulnerable to variations in the weather. Arriving drenched is both uncomfortable and impractical, so we might drive rather than face this prospect. Wet weather forecasts are likely to <a href="http://www.fietsberaad.nl/library/repository/bestanden/Sabir%20et%20al%20(2010a).Pdf">trigger a travel mode shift</a> as travellers opt for greater comfort and safety.</p> <p>But the day of the week also affects these decisions. Inclement weather is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968090X1730311X">more likely to reduce</a> weekend and off-peak travel – the so-called <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856414002195">discretionary trips</a> – than standard weekday commute trips. Clearly, travel purpose plays a stronger role than weather.</p> <p>Significant variation exists in the effects of weather on trip-makers with <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11116-015-9623-0">different individual characteristics and household composition</a>. For example, <a href="https://trid.trb.org/view/482123">commuters with children</a> are less likely to alter their travel because of the weather. This is possibly due to their household responsibilities.</p> <p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692314000957">Geographic variations</a> across the transit network have been observed too. Bad weather has more serious effects in areas with less frequent services and without protected bus and rail stops. Travellers in areas with more frequent services and well-designed shelters appear to be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968090X1730311X">less sensitive to bad weather</a>.</p> <p>In areas with high population densities, the effect of weather also appears to weaken. This is particularly the case for active transportation such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692314001951">cycling</a>.</p> <p>How we travel during inclement weather also involves more subtle changes. Trip chaining, or the process of stringing together multiple smaller journeys into a larger one, is reduced in complexity, particularly <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11116-015-9623-0">on rainy days</a>.</p> <p>In terms of “extreme” weather, not all types have the same effect. Heavy precipitation (snow or rain) and, to a lesser extent, extremely high or low temperatures <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262900761_Impact_of_Everyday_Weather_on_Individual_Daily_Travel_Behaviours_in_Perspective_A_Literature_Review">appear to have</a> a <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Impact-of-Climate-Change-and-Weather-on-An-of-Koetse-Rietveld/93b6e6516ad21a549096a97348fc8f56774396d3">greater effect</a> on travel behaviour than strong winds or high humidity.</p> <h2>Adapting to weather conditions</h2> <p>We cannot change the weather. But we can plan our transport systems to be more resilient and better shield us from the weather when we travel.</p> <p>If we don’t do this, we will face the same crisis as Transport for London. Since its privatisation, its train services experience delays every autumn and winter due to “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_rail">leaves on the line</a>” and “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_wrong_type_of_snow">the wrong type of snow</a>”.</p> <p>What kind of transport adaptations are available and work? The options range from offering passengers a more diverse choice of modes, to improving existing infrastructure. For example, making public transport stations more user-friendly could soften the impact of bad weather.</p> <p>More seamless interchanges may have a strong effect, as commuters generally find modal transfers stressful. Temperature-controlled, covered or underground transfer stations would protect passengers while between modes of transport.</p> <p>Active travel infrastructure is particularly important. Cities that are committed to supporting non-motorised transport have implemented or proposed bold policies.</p> <p>We see examples of this around the world. Increasingly hot Madrid is <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3056166/madrid-is-covering-itself-in-plants-to-help-fight-rising-temperatures">covering itself in trees</a> to assist pedestrians. Frosty Dutch cities are testing <a href="http://www.dw.com/en/the-netherlands-tests-heated-cycle-lanes/a-18971259">heated bicycle lanes</a>. Arid Doha has floated the idea of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmmdjquL9Tc">cooled bicycle paths</a>. And Singapore plans to expand the city’s network of <a href="https://blogs.ethz.ch/engagingmobility/2016/05/03/bicycle-infrastructure-in-singapore-an-overview/">sheltered walkways</a>.</p> <p>Projecting roofs and porticoes shield us from the hot sun or precipitation. Vegetation lessens the impacts of both cold wind in temperate and subpolar latitudes and hot sunshine elsewhere.</p> <p><span>Beyond these incremental interventions, a fundamental rethink of our urban design approach is necessary. The key to limiting and adapting to the effects of weather on travel may well be the “</span><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-30-minute-city-how-do-we-put-the-political-rhetoric-into-practice-56136">30-minute city</a><span>”. But this can only be achieved through high densities and mixed land use – concepts that have so far generated </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/30-minute-city-not-in-my-backyard-smart-cities-plan-must-let-people-have-their-say-59161">fierce resistance and NIMBYism</a><span> in Australia.</span></p> <p><span>Another word of caution. What works in one climate zone might not work in another. This is because human bodies and minds adjust and develop different expectations and tolerance to weather and temperature patterns. For example, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-what-bike-sharing-programs-need-to-succeed-85969">optimal temperature range for cycling</a> is as broad as 4-40°C in continental climates, but as narrow as 15-32°C in subtropical climates.</span></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/too-wet-too-cold-too-hot-this-is-how-weather-affects-the-trips-we-make-93724" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

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He's real! Dolly Parton shares rare snap of reclusive husband

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The famed country songstress has shared a rare photo with her fans of her husband of 55 years, Carl Thomas Dean.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 75-year-old shared the snap on Instagram, in which Dean seems to be wearing a shirt that’s been digitally edited to include several pictures of her.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Find you a partner who will support you like my Carl Dean does!” Parton captioned the sweet photo.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVygjSrFInE/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVygjSrFInE/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Dolly Parton (@dollyparton)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fans quickly shared their adoration for the image, with one writing, “Carl Dean is super handsome!”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Hahaha the queen of photoshop! Y’all are adorable,” another commented, noting that is “may be the first time” they’ve seen a picture of Parton’s husband.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“What a love story,” another added.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Parton and Dean first met at a Nashville laundromat the day after she arrived in the city.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They married in 1966 and renewed their vows in 2016 in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Parton’s romantic photo also serves as a promotion of the Dolly Vintage Collage Tee, which is on sale for approximately $47 on her website.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVlJ6wqFHTu/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVlJ6wqFHTu/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Dolly Parton (@dollyparton)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The country star opened up about her rarely-seen husband last year while laughing off rumours that he was fictional.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“A lot of people have thought that through the years, because he does not want to be in the spotlight at all,” Parton </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/dolly-parton-throwback-photo-husband-carl-dean/496e01f5-156c-4aad-81bd-ef562479523b" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">told</span></a> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Entertainment Tonight</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s just who he is. He’s like, a quiet, reserved person and he’s figured if he ever got out there in that, he’d never get a minute’s peace and he’s right about that.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When asked about how her marriage has lasted for so long, she said it was, “Because I stay gone”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“And there’s a lot of truth in that — the fact that we’re not in each other’s faces all the time,” she explained. “But we do have a great respect and admiration for each other. We both have a great sense of humour. So, we have a lot of fun.”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: @dollyparton / Instagram</span></em></p>

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