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Harder to keep our cool

Tuesday 22 April, 2008 9:01am

A JANUARY day in western Sydney is four degrees hotter than it was 40 years ago, and Greening Australia says the "urban heat island" effect is mostly to blame.

Clearing the land of vegetation and replacing it with dark reflective surfaces such as asphalt and roof tiles has thrown temperatures in Western Sydney three degrees higher than greener neighbourhoods in Sydney's north and east, Greening Australia told a parliamentary inquiry on climate change.

Combined with climate change, Western Sydney was now four degrees hotter than it was in the 1960s.

The number of days over 35C since then had increased 250 per cent, according to research by Professor Andy Pitman, of the University of NSW, presented to the inquiry committee. Prof Pitman attributed 80 per cent of this rise to the urban heat island effect.

Greening Australia found that during the past 40 years all weather stations in Western Sydney had experienced a rise in annual temperatures over and above what was expected through global waring.

The effect was strongest in Blacktown, but also clearly apparent in Richmond, Camden, Liverpool and Parramatta.

The gap between Sydney coastal temperatures and Western Sydney had also grown.

To fix the problem the State Government needed to offer more incentives for people to replant their gardens with native vegetation and for councils to plant open and space with more trees.

Water tanks and grey water recycling would help retain water and building codes should stipulate light and reflective surfaces, Greening Australia said.

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