Australian Open Heat Was a Climate-Change Preview, but At Least Nobody Died

The Australian Open ended in Melbourne on Sunday, when a Swiss man wearing a sweat-drenched shirt with yellow and red stripes won in four sets.  It was bloody hot, and his nose burned red as he smooched a silver trophy.

In fact, the sweltering heat captivated the world’s media and arguably stole the show.  One player burned her bum when she sat down on a chair; another’s plastic water bottle melted on the court’s artificial surface. 
Athletes collapsed left and right, and one of them hallucinated. Emergency rules designed to help players survive the scorching heat slowed down play.

January is Melbourne’s hottest month, where temperatures routinely break triple digits. And summertime temperatures in this capital of the southeastern state of Victoria will only keep rising as the globe keeps warming.  “In Melbourne we are seeing an increase in the amount of extreme heat,” one scientist told The Guardian.  Victoria’s profile as a fire-whipped example of the global climate crisis can only go up from here.

Australian Open Heat Was a Climate-Change Preview, but At Least Nobody Died