Australia is bracing for another long, hot summer with heatwave conditions already prevalent in many parts of the country, including Queensland and northern NSW.
Doctor Thomas Loridan, who studies the impacts of natural disasters on human life, says there's an alternative way of categorising heatwave conditions.
Doctor Loridan, who works for the organisation Risk Frontiers, has tried to put the emphasis on people in a 'one to five' category system in which a rare 'five' status would indicate the most dangerous threat to humans.
"In the same way as you assess damage to a house from knowledge of the wind speed we try to assess the threats posed to human life from knowledge of the extreme heat," he told SBS.
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People across swathes of Queensland and northern NSW were warned to expect extreme heat on December 2, with temperatures soaring into the high 30s and low 40s degrees Celsius.
The early summer heatwave had firefighters and health authorities on alert and Doctor Loridan warned that the elderly weren't the only ones at risk in the stifling heat.
"Warnings about heatwaves are taken lighter and yeah we need to educate people better about the risks of heatwave."
Qld heatwave continues
Southeast Queensland is bracing for a day of heatwave temperatures, and health authorities are warning the very young, and the very old to be careful in the hot weather.
Temperatures in Ipswich and Beaudesert are expected to top 37 degrees Celsius, and 40 in Gatton, while Brisbane's is expecting highs in the low 30s.
Yesterday, six people were hospitalised for heat-related illnesses.
-With AAP
