True, Jantimot. These days it's warmed up so much that even in Tassie you need an air conditioner. Melbourne having heat waves over 45 degrees used to be unheard of. And Sydney-siders complained about the record heat wave this year, too. It was cooler than the heat of Melbourne, but more humid with it, which didn't help.
I'm not sure how many people died because of the heat in 2009, given the power went out and the back up generators in some hospitals failed to work. Probably no-one is prepared to say.
It will take some time for our metabolism to adjust to survive heat like we've had this past decade and it's only going to get hotter in future decades. It depends a bit on where you live. I understand up north it hasn't got all that much hotter - the extremes seem to be more marked the closer to the poles you get.
