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# Heatwave exposure of infants and older adults rose in Australia and New Zealand, 2016–2025
- URL: https://www.coios.me/heatwave-exposure-of-infants-and-older-adults-rose-in/
- Published: 2026-11-01T09:24:30.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-02T07:06:36.000Z
- Description: In 2021–2025, climate change accounted for 65% of heatwave days in Australia and 73% in New Zealand.
- Author: Daniel Ryan
- Tags: Tomorrow's world, A changing climate, Australia, New Zealand, #peer-reviewed, #refines, #item, #source-2026-11, #score-62

This eighth annual MJA–Lancet Countdown report assessed 28 climate-health indicators for Australia and New Zealand. Infants averaged 4.6 heatwave days a year in Australia (up 66% on 1986–2005) and 7.4 in New Zealand (up 109%). Using ERA5 temperature data, 65% and 73% of heatwave days in 2021–2025 were attributed to climate change. Heat-related deaths at ages 65 and over cost Australia an estimated US$1.49 billion a year in 2021–2025, 119% above 2000–2004\. Of 16,230 Australians aged 14–19 surveyed, 49% were worried about climate change and 13.5% said it negatively affected daily life. The report is an indicator synthesis, and the strength of inference varies by indicator.

*Why it is interesting: It attributes most recent heatwave days in both countries to climate change. It also puts the monetised cost of heat deaths in older Australians at US$1.49 billion a year, 119% above 2000–2004.*

Source

[Medical Journal of Australia, 1 November 2026](https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.70315?ref=coios.me)

Paper

The 2026 Oceania Report of the MJA-Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change: Children Already Impacted, With a Lifetime of Exposure to Come

Authors

Beggs PJ, Singh T, Bambrick H, Borchers Arriagada N, Bowen K, Capon AG et al.

DOI

10.5694/mja2.70315

Full text

[Open copy](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13715459/?ref=coios.me) (open-access copy, PubMed Central)

Type

Peer-reviewed article

Design

Eighth annual multi-indicator assessment across five domains for Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, including a survey of 16,230 people aged 14-19 and heat-mortality cost estimates for 2021-2025

Verdict

Refines prior evidence

Driver

[A changing climate](https://www.coios.me/d-climate/)

Free full text

[Free to read at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.70315?ref=coios.me)

Abstract — the authors' own words, CC BY

The Medical Journal of Australia (MJA)-Lancet Countdown on health and climate change in Oceania was established in 2017 and produced its first regional assessment in 2018 and annual updates from 2019 to 2025\. It examines five broad domains: (1) health hazards, exposures and impacts; (2) adaptation, planning and resilience for health; (3) mitigation actions and health co-benefits; (4) economics and finance; and (5) public and political engagement. In this, the eighth report of the MJA-Lancet Countdown, we track an extensive suite of indicators across these five domains, accessing and presenting the latest data and further refining and developing our analyses. Our analyses show that exposure of infants and older adults to heatwaves in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand has increased substantially over the past decade due to climate change, and half of the 16,230 young Australians aged 14-19 years surveyed reported that they are worried or sad about the impacts of climate change, including its threat to people, and about 1 in 7 reported that such feelings are negatively affecting their daily life. Increasing heat-related mortality alone is placing a large economic burden on Australians, with associated inflation-adjusted costs over the period 2021-2025 being more than double what they were at the start of the century, now averaging an estimated US$1.49 billion per year nationally. In other areas, some progress is being made. New Zealand's Health National Adaptation Plan 2024-2027, published in October 2024, lays the foundation for building climate resilience within its health system, while acknowledging the environmental and social determinants of health that apply more broadly. The provision of climate services to the health sector in both Australia and New Zealand is categorised as advanced. In Australia, healthcare-related greenhouse gas emissions generally declined from 2016 to 2023\. In conclusion, the threat to physical and mental health from climate change continues to grow. Despite pockets of progress, Australia and New Zealand have a long way to go to adequately mitigate and adapt to climate change, and in so doing not only avoid health impacts but seize the opportunity for generational health gains. Important opportunities have been lost, such as the failed attempts to amend Australia's Climate Change Act 2022 to 'require decision-makers to consider the health and well-being of children in Australia when making significant decisions'. In 2026, Australia is in the spotlight as President of Negotiations for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31)-an unprecedented opportunity for the Australian Government to push through the sizable step change in global climate action that is now critically required.