From the smallest problem how to hold the mouse! Training is conducted Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm. Keep up to date on our Facebook page. Find out more at: www. The Black Friday bushfires which swept across southeastern Australia in January have been remembered as a deadly and traumatic event.
Most human deaths, however, occurred during the preceding heatwave β 78 lives were lost to bushfires in mainland southeastern Australia but at least people died as a result of the high temperatures during the preceding week.
Globally, heatwaves still remain one of the deadliest natural hazards. Our research examines how people in the past understood and adapted to extreme weather β without the contemporary comforts of airconditioning and refrigeration.
Adelaide is the most heatwave affected capital city in Australia. Noel Weller, who lived on a suburban block in Glandore with his wife and two children, kept a daily diary. On January 12, he wrote:. I went to work in shirt sleeves. Like most households, the Wellers relied on an icebox to keep their food and drinks cool. Demand for ice, and prices, soared during the heatwave, and supply ran short, made worse by a mechanical failure at the government ice works. By January 13, the situation was so dire the police had to manage crowds at some suburban ice depots.
Manufacturers of ice cream and cold drinks were extending hours and taking on casual staff to meet unprecedented demand. Advocates for attire more suited to the climate ridiculed businessmen who determinedly wore suits and ties. Florence Bond, a well-connected expat visiting from England, wrote of her difficulty sleeping in the heat.
