The
The hottest day ever recorded in the
city
city basin, 49 degrees.
The
The number of days above 50 degrees
has
has doubled since the 1980s.
Thank
Thank you
Thank you for letting us pass. It's
hot
hot outside and you're sitting in
the
the AC.
the AC. I
the AC. I think it was around 56
this
this year
this year but it feels like 60.
The
The last
The last seven years have been the
hottest
hottest ever recorded globally.
I
I was
I was actually eight months pregnant
the
the day
the day of the fire.
This
This year, BBC teams filmed around
the
the world.
We
We are
We are digging. And we are afraid.
There
There is
There is an injustice around climate
change,
change, poorer people will be
affected
affected more than the rich people.
We
We wanted
We wanted to show how extreme heat
is
is changing people's lives. The
irony
irony is,
irony is, it's the rich people who
are
are doing
are doing the most polluting.
We
We are
We are being told to brace the
catastrophic conditions.
Temperatures will climb well into
the
the 40s
the 40s in the coming days. Making
conditions even worse on our fire
grounds.
Although
Although half the sky was full of
smoke,
smoke, it
smoke, it was quite interesting and
exciting.
exciting. I've never seen that with
my
my own
my own eyes before.
I
I reckon
I reckon it since I first went out,
it's
it's just
it's just got redder. I just knew
that
that this
that this is where I want to be over
that
that period of time.
The
The authorities are advising people
to
to evacuate from an advancing
bushfire
bushfire but India, aged 18, has
decided
decided to stay with her
decided to stay with her father,
Shawn,
Shawn, an
Shawn, an experienced firefighter.
Have
Have you
Have you looked out the front of it?
Yeah.
Yeah. India wanted to stay and help
me.
me. It's
me. It's very ? because she is very
much
much like
much like me, very stubborn and
there
there was
there was no chance she would miss
out
out on
out on any of that sort of action.
Most
Most of
Most of my time was spent up on our
roof
roof just
roof just watching everything,
watching
watching the sky change colour. And
then,
then, in
then, in the afternoon, I got the
first
first glimpse of the fire coming
over
over one
over one of the mountains.
Australia
Australia is experiencing six times
more
more days
more days over 39 degrees than 60
years
years ago, increasing the risk of
bushfires.
I
I was
I was just standing up there,
looking
looking at everything on fire,
thinking
thinking it was kind of cool. And
then,
then, eventually thought... Oh BLEEP
Need
Need to
Need to get off the roof now and
start
start fighting.
It
It was
It was extremely hot. And starting
to
to get
to get worried. Dad!
It
It was
It was on
It was on a very hot day to begin
with,
with, so
with, so that made the fire, I
think,
think, a
think, a lot more aggressive. Oh,
no.
When
When I
When I realised that the fire hose
had
had holes
had holes in it, I thought we were
going
going to
going to lose the house. Dad!
The
The fire
The fire was just too intense and
out
out of
out of my
out of my control. If India had been
in
in earshot at the time, I was
wanting
wanting her to get into that fire
shelter
shelter and just give up. It's over.
Dad!
Climate
Climate change in Nigeria is turning
fertile
fertile land into desert. Central
Nigeria
Nigeria is getting hotter and drier
stop
stop this
stop this makes the task of well
digging
digging more important and even
harder.
In
In the
In the hot season, Wells are the
main
main source of clean water for
villagers.
Some
Some households have a long walk to
clean
clean water because the previous
well
well has
well has dried up.
24
24 feet.
On
On the
On the surface, the air temperature
was
was around 43 degrees. Our team
tried
tried to
tried to measure the heat at the
bottom
bottom of
bottom of the well. It was so hot
and
and humid, our equipment failed.
Oh,
Oh, kangaroo! It did get really
intense.
intense. I just remember smoke
feeling
feeling like it was really hard to
breathe.
Out
Out the
Out the front...
Then,
Then, after five hours...
Then, after five hours... It just
calmed
calmed down for a second and it just
kept
kept going around us and up the
mountain.
In
In and
In and Shaun saved their home. But
in
in their
in their local area, over 1 million
hectares
hectares were burned. Hundreds of
houses
houses were destroyed and four
people
people died.
After
After the
After the fire came through, I was
thinking
thinking a lot about the future
because
because I've lived here all of my
life.
It
It has
It has completely and utterly
changed
changed the landscape here for the
rest
rest of
rest of my life, if not forever.
Scientists analysed this bushfire
season
season and found that hot and windy
days
days which are high risk for
bushfires
bushfires where 30% more likely
because
because of climate change. The
amount
amount of
amount of damage that we've done,
not
not paying any attention to balance
of
of life,
of life, we just don't seem to
really
really give a BLEEP
.
. I'm
. I'm worried for my children and,
yeah,
yeah, I
yeah, I think what they have to face
in
in the
in the future is bloody horrifying.
The
The bushfires that we experienced in
that
that summer were completely
unprecedented. We had never seen
anything
anything of that ferocity and scale
here
here previously. I'm a climate
scientist
scientist but I specialise in heat
waves,
waves, so
waves, so I study how heatwaves have
changed
changed over time in the past and
the
the future and what is causing those
changes.
changes. There is irrefutable
evidence
evidence that the climate of
Australia
Australia has changed. Sydney's heat
peaked
peaked at
peaked at dangerous levels today,
temperatures soaring. It was the
hottest
hottest day ever recorded in the
Sydney
Sydney basin. All the heat in the
world
world is
world is concentrated in Australia
and
and Penrith was today the hottest
place
place on
place on the planet.
The
The ways
The ways Sydney's new suburbs have
been
been built has created urban
hotspots.
hotspots. Scientists have measured
temperatures of 50 degrees. Gotcha!
Some
Some people think we are boffins, we
like
like to
like to sit in our towers and just
concentrate on our subject areas and
we
we are
we are not actually real people. Of
her,
her, please. There you go, good
girl.
girl. I
girl. I have two young children and
it
it really
it really bothers me that the world
that
that they
that they are experiencing now is a
lot
lot different to mine. When we
eventually came to buying our first
house,
house, we
house, we moved out to the
north-western part of Sydney because
that
that is
that is what we could afford. There
is
is a
is a lot
is a lot of new developments and
because
because they are trying to pack more
people
people into the city, ork houses are
closer
closer together, there is less green
spaces.
spaces. I
spaces. I have experienced days are
47
47 Celsius and that was appalling,
it
it was
it was atrocious. The only way we
could
could stay cool in western Sydney
was
was to
was to have the aircon running all
day
day and
day and that was a really hard thing
for
for me
for me to
for me to do.
Australia
Australia is one of the higher CO2
emitters
emitters per capita in the world. As
we
we head
we head into the Christmas period,
it's
it's really taking its toll.
We
We have
We have 46 forecast for Adelaide, 44
for
for Melbourne, they would be new
December
December records. You girls have got
a
a pretty
a pretty good haul from Santa. It is
certainly
certainly true for nations and
communities will suffer more from
the
the impacts of climate change was
that
that we
that we at least have the resources
to
to perhaps turn on air conditioning
during
during a
during a heatwave or move somewhere
away
away from
away from bushfires. There is an
injustice
injustice around climate change
certainly, that the poorer people
will
will be
will be affected more than the rich
people.
people. And, you know, the irony of
that
that is
that is it's the rich people doing
the
the most
the most polluting.
A
A generation ago, this regent looked
very
very different, with fertile fields,
orchards,
orchards, and forests. Today, people
have
have to
have to find other ways to make a
living
living from the land.
The
The Middle East is warming twice as
fast
fast as
fast as the rest of the world.
This
This land
This land has been farmed by his
family
family for hundreds of years. Now
extreme
extreme heat and an historic drought
are
are threatening his future.
After
After years of bad harvests, his
farm
farm is
farm is losing money. He has used
his
his savings to plant wheat and
barley
barley for another year, hoping the
crop
crop will
crop will succeed this time.
The
The Sheikh is under pressure from
his
his family to sell their farm. If
this
this harvest fails, he may have to.
Iraqi's
Iraqi's wealthy neighbour Kuwait has
officially recorded 12 days of 50
degrees
degrees or more this year. I think
there
there is
there is a common misconception that
there
there is
there is the ability to split your
time
time between multiple countries.
That
That has
That has never been my reality. It
is
is so
is so humid today. The assumption
that
that we
that we are able to just leave when
it's
it's too
it's too hot is really not possible.
Asia
Asia is
Asia is a
Asia is a QA teat social media
influencer, posting regular updates
to
to her
to her million followers.
Normally
Normally I like to start my days
with
with a
with a dog walk. It's yours now. No,
gross.
gross. We
gross. We need to make it super
early
early so
early so my little fur baby can walk
on
on the
on the ground without burning
himself.
himself. Are you OK? Come on. I
think
think it
think it was around 56 this year,
supposedly as hot as it got but it
feels
feels like 60! Sliding off my face.
It
It sucks
It sucks the life out of you, and
that's
that's it, you're like this. That's
the
the closest I can get to describing
56
56 degrees dry heat, when it is hot
and
and humid, it is a bit more... But
also
also you
also you just shrivel into a
little...
little... Only actions can really
show
show you
show you what heat feels like!
Wait,
Wait, look both ways. To heat impact
your
your life
your life in ways you don't
necessarily anticipate. On a
day-to-day, it makes things that are
supposed
supposed to be a minute long an hour
long.
long. Let's sit down. One of the
things
things I
things I was not anticipating when I
did
did finally have children, now I had
this
this tiny
this tiny little being that it
needed
needed to
needed to be protected from the sun,
because
because I
because I had rear facing car seats,
the
the AC
the AC never touched his seat so we
would
would have to prepare if I was going
to
to pop
to pop out with him. Frozen yoghurt
time!
time! I
time! I think I'm getting
strawberry. He would turn the car on
30
30 minutes before an outing, but the
ice
ice packs
ice packs in his car seat before
placing
placing him in it and then we had a
tube
tube that
tube that would extend from the
front
front AC
front AC in the front seat into the
back
back just
back just to make sure that we could
get
get him
get him enough air-conditioning in a
rear
rear facing car seat, and that is
the
the reality for all parents here.
Pushed
Pushed the door. Do you want to try
that?
that? This is the hottest I have
ever
ever seen
ever seen Kuwait.
ever seen Kuwait. It is getting to
the
the point
the point where it is really
unbearable and I feel like
everything about living here is
hostile
hostile sometimes! You said you like
swimming
swimming inside or outside? Insight.
It
It concerns me that the only life my
children
children have known has been in
scorching
scorching heat. They want to be kids
and
and go
and go to
and go to the playground and they
will
will beg
will beg to go all day and we will
finally
finally break and take them and it
will
will be
will be so unbearable that they beg
to
to go
to go back home. It's tough.
Across
Across the world, dangerous urban
heat
heat is
heat is on the rise. It is defined
as
as three
as three or more days well above the
summertime average. Incidents have
tripled
tripled since the 1980s.
Who
Who you
Who you is a paramedic on the US
Mexican
Mexican border -- to Julio. This
summer
summer they experienced a weight of
40
40 days
40 days above 46 degrees.
Extreme
Extreme heat and water shortages
affect
affect the whole region.
This
This used
This used to be the fertile delta of
the
the Colorado River. Land of this
tribe.
Now,
Now, partly due to climate change,
the
the river
the river has dried up and
temperatures can reach 52 degrees.
The
The Colorado River runs from the US
to
to Mexico. Dams and canals in the US
mean
mean only
mean only 10% of the river makes it
south
south of
south of the border. Climate change
has
has lowered levels in both
countries, but only in Mexico does
the
the River
the River dry up completely.
The
The US
The US government says it meets its
water
water commitments to Mexico. The
Cucapah
Cucapah tribe disagree.
With
With another hot, dry summer ahead,
Antonia
Antonia fears her mother is running
out
out of
out of time.
This
This is
This is a
This is a remote mining town on the
edge
edge of
edge of the Sahara.
They
They start work before dawn and can
only
only continue for a few hours before
it
it becomes too hot.
Other
Other local livelihoods are
threatened, too. Recurring drought
means
means there's a few plants for
animals
animals to graze.
He
He fears
He fears the worst for his crops.
This
This year, Iraq's summer has seen 20
days
days above 50 degrees.
A
A third
A third of the farmers here have
sold
sold up
sold up and moved to cities. The
land
land here
land here is in demand from oil
companies. The Sheik's oldest son
has
has started working in the nearest
city.
city. His
city. His job is to sell farmland.
When
When I
When I was growing up, my
grandmother used to tell me that we
lived
lived here for ever. There's this
collective conscious knowledge which
is
is handed
is handed down from generation to
generation. What you do to land, you
do
do to
do to yourselves, that is how I was
raised.
raised. But since I was a child, I
had
had seen
had seen it changes in ecosystems,
I've
I've seen
I've seen less water, I had seen the
tree
tree is
tree is struggling with drought and
heat
heat anxiety and if you abuse the
land,
land, climate change is a logical
consequence. This year, the
north-west of the US and Canada
experienced an unprecedented heat
event.
event. A
event. A big dome of high pressure
has
has built
has built across this part of North
America,
America, trapping the air in place.
Scientists later calculated the
deadly
deadly heat dome would have been
impossible without climate change.
Today
Today where is the hottest day for
much
much of
much of BCM this weekend temperature
records
records could be shattered across
the
the province.
The
The hottest place have always lit
and
and in
and in British Columbia. A new
all-time
all-time record of 49.5 Celsius, 121
Fahrenheit. The next day it was
engulfed
engulfed by a wildfire.
The
The whole
The whole village is going.
Within
Within 24
Within 24 hours, 90% of buildings in
Lytton
Lytton were destroyed.
This
This is
This is Judith because Matt has,
they
they are
they are the former principal, lost
their
their home. This is the Lytton
hotel,
hotel, its fire escape stayed up, as
did
did its
did its chimney. The doctor does in
the
the office, the hospital, all to the
right.
right. Gone.
Theirs
Theirs is
Theirs is the first time Patrick has
been
been back
been back home since the fire.
been back home since the fire. 167,
25
25 years
25 years we have been working in
this
this property. One board at a time.
One
One of
One of the greatest memories of
every
every one
every one of my six kids is this and
I
I don't
I don't know if it's going to live.
I
I thought
I thought I lost all of my tools. A
drill
drill made it. It's good to see you
guys!
guys! I'm
guys! I'm pretty sure the battery
has
has gone
has gone on this one.
Most
Most of
Most of the people who lived in
Lytton
Lytton are of first nation heritage.
Now,
Now, this
Now, this close-knit indigenous
community
community has been scattered in
temporary
temporary accommodation. Patrick's
daughter
daughter Serena and family are in a
hotel.
hotel. There is a list on the side
of
of the
of the door that says there is
supposed
supposed to be three mixing bowls. I
was
was going
was going to tell you, you took too
much
much stuff with you! We had left the
house
house in
house in minutes, before it was on
fire.
fire. We
fire. We basically left with the
clothes
clothes on our backs. I was going to
cook
cook but
cook but I'm really tired. I was
actually
actually eight months pregnant the
day
day of
day of the fire.
So
So cute!
So cute! Let's go.
Just
Just happy, just content.
I
I cried
I cried with relief when we found
out
out we
out we had a hotel which would
accept
accept our pets. We have it secured
until
until October one but every time we
renew,
renew, we
renew, we still don't know if we can
get
get it
get it again.
Patrick
Patrick and his wife Tina are
staying
staying in a nearby campsite with
nine
nine other Lytton refugees.
We'd
We'd hoped that the owner would
allow
allow us
allow us to stay after the 1st of
October
October but they said no because I
think
think it
think it would cost him a lot to
keep
keep the
keep the water and the septic tank
and
and everything going.
Even
Even after the fire, I didn't feel
homeless.
homeless. Without a house, yes but I
never
never felt homeless because we were
always
always together. Patrick and I and
the
the babies, we had each other.
But
But after
But after yesterday and after the
conversation about having to leave
by
by the
by the 1st of October I was like,
OK,
OK, you
OK, you know, it hit. We are
homeless.
What
What are
What are we going to do?
Making
Making a
Making a living in the desert salt
mines
mines has
mines has become too difficult for
Sidi.
He
He is
He is leaving
He is leaving for a coastal town
today.
Muhammad
Muhammad and his sheep are catching
the
the same
the same train. They cannot go far
by
by foot
by foot so they start their journey
with
with a
with a short ride in the car.
This
This is
This is a
This is a starting point for one of
the
the longest trains in the world. Up
to
to 2.5
to 2.5 kilometres in length.
The
The freight train takes iron ore
from
from the
from the mines to the ports of the
coast.
If
If we
If we don't reduce emissions, the
Middle
Middle East is heading for
ultra-extreme heat waves of over 56
degrees
degrees in the second half of this
century.
The
The absolute best invention in the
world.
world. I
world. I think we have got a little
fatigued
fatigued with the idea of climate
change.
change. We have stopped looking at
what
what it
what it means to the individual
person.
person. You can't even feeling it
now.
now. We
now. We are looking at things that
are
are micro, like stop using straws to
save
save turtles and turn off the lights
in
in the
in the bathroom as you leave the
house
house to
house to be able to save some energy
but
but all
but all of those things are not the
big
big picture. The big picture is what
it
it actually means to live here.
it actually means to live here. Gulf
countries
countries use the majority of their
electricity on air conditioning.
There
There is
There is absolutely no way to
survive
survive here without AC and I think
that
that what
that what is really disturbing about
that
that is
that is that you are calling your
little
little section but heating up
outside.
outside. -- cooling down. We are in
this
this awful cycle of trying to cool
down
down ourselves but also heating up
the
the country even more as we go on.
It's
It's one
It's one of my largest fierce, that
my
my children are so young right now
and
and these
and these are probably the best days
of
of their
of their life. In terms of the
weather.
weather. This is probably the
coolest
coolest it might ever be for them.
If
If you
If you don't live here, and you're
not
not affected by it every day, you
forget
forget that it is happening, but it
is,
is, and
is, and it's terrifying.
If
If we
If we are
If we are looking into the future, I
don't
don't see
don't see how much longer we can
consider
consider Kuwait habitable.
This
This summer, after years of
discussions, the US government
released
released an extra 43 million cubic
metres
metres of
metres of water into the Colorado
River
River from its reservoirs.
Inocencia
Inocencia Gonzalez died six weeks
after
after the
after the river returned.
My
My name
My name is India McDonald, I shared
some
some of
some of the footage I captured while
defending
defending my home from the
bushfires. India is living at home
and
and making films about her
experience. The reason I shared that
was
was purely to show others how bad
being
being in
being in a bushfire is. I'm worried
that
that this
that this house will not be here in
another
another five years. So many people
don't
don't think that climate change is
real.
real. So
real. So I'm worried for my future.
And
And I'm
And I'm worried that no one really
cares
cares enough to do anything. And
people
people are just greedy.
As
As a
As a scientist, I know how bad the
future
future looks, how many more
heatwaves
heatwaves we will see and how much
hotter
hotter those heatwaves will be.
Goodness
Goodness me, look at these boxes. I
know
know what
know what that means for our
ecosystems, what that means for sea
level
level rise and for the Great Barrier
Reef.
Reef. Doctor Sarah Kirkpatrick and
her
her family have left the Western
Sydney
Sydney suburbs. We are going to live
here
here while our new houses being
built.
built. They are building a more
eco-friendly home. No books yet, it
must
must be
must be in a box. I struggle with
just
just how
just how bad those impacts will be,
I
I know
I know they are happening and
happening
happening now and they're going to
get
get worse. The new house is going to
be
be awesome. We are going to make it
energy
energy efficient and have a lot of
solar
solar panels and all that and lots
of
of insulation.
What
What plants do you think we will
plant
plant in
plant in the backyard? Strawberries!
I
I know
I know we
I know we have caused some problems
and
and we
and we also hold the key to the
solutions. Chocolate? Yes!
This
This is
This is all first time, I've never
done
done this
done this before. Patrick is
preparing
preparing to move his family back to
Lytton
Lytton in
Lytton in a mobile home. I've relied
on
on humour
on humour and hard work all my life.
This
This is
This is the next step in the
transition back home. I usually live
paycheque
paycheque to paycheque. This is
$1000
$1000 a
$1000 a month, 15 years to pay it
off.
off. It's
off. It's not what we wanted but we
will
will be
will be OK.
My
My sense
My sense of place went up in a puff
of
of smoke
of smoke on June 30. I'm going to
rebuild
rebuild that sense of place. So we
are
are building a home for not just my
wife
wife and
wife and I today but for my great
grand
grand children who I have yet to
see.
see. My
see. My plan is to move from the
campsite
campsite and when they have the
power
power and
power and water hooked up, I'm
hoping
hoping to
hoping to be able to put my RV right
here
here and
here and spend the next couple of
years
years rebuilding my home.
I
I can
I can put
I can put in blood sweat and tears
but
but I'm
but I'm going to need help.
Honestly,
Honestly, a lot of it. It is
surreal,
surreal, it is overwhelming, it is
daunting
daunting but in my heart, there is
that
that optimism. It is really hard in
my
my heart,
my heart, knowing that everything we
are
are experiencing was the result of
our
our action. We can elect people who
have
have the
have the courage to say no, I'm not
going
going to
going to continue the status quo. We
need
need to
need to leave the fossil fuels in
the
the ground, we need to invest in
homes
homes that are designed to be cool
in
in the
in the summer, stay warm in the
winter.
winter. I'm not scared of what's
coming.
coming. At the moment, the sun is
setting
setting on Lytton but tomorrow the
sun
sun will
sun will rise on Lytton.