Living Hot: Australia’s new climate reality

As Australia faces rising temperatures and more frequent extreme-weather events, Charles Sturt is leading a national effort to understand how people are preparing for a hotter, more volatile climate. The Living Hot Project, spearheaded by Professor Clive Hamilton, shifts the climate conversation beyond emissions reduction to focus on real-world adaptation and resilience. Grounded in the knowledge that dangerous levels of warming are now unavoidable, the projectasks a pressing question: how will Australians live with the heat?

Drawing on the ideas first laid out in Hamilton and George Wilkenfield’s influential book Living Hot: Surviving and Thriving on a Heating Planet, the project investigates the social, behavioural, and economic dimensions of climate adaptation. It examines how people interpret risk, what they are already doing to protect themselves, and where gaps in preparedness are emerging.

At the centre of the initiative is the Climate Adaptation Survey, the first national survey to explore in detail how Australians are responding to escalating climate impacts. Results from the 2025 survey reveal a country quietly but unevenly adapting. Nearly one in four respondents has modified their home to cope with extreme weather, yet an estimated 652,000 propertiesremain highly exposed, some with little or no insurance. Climate pressures are also beginning to shape internal migration, with one-fifth of people considering moving, citing climate concerns. Political and cultural divides continue to influence who takes protective action and who does not.

The project’s findings are informing media debate and policy thinking on housing, insurance, planning and equity. By grounding adaptation in lived experience, Charles Sturt is helping Australians prepare for a future where living hot is the new normal.