A new climate report warns that by 2050, an estimated 1.5 million Australians living in coastal areas will be at serious risk from rising sea levels. These communities already face rising tides, more intense storms, and loss of land along the coast.

The report also highlights that climate change exacerbated by intense heat waves is increasing mortality and health problems linked to excessive heat, especially in areas where infrastructure is not prepared to deal with increasingly extreme summers.

The repercussions are both physical and economic. There is loss of coastal properties, a decrease in salinized agricultural land, and enormous costs to adapt homes, sidewalks, sewage systems, and drainage systems to rising sea levels and torrential rains.

For vulnerable groups—older people, pregnant women, low-income families—the impact is twofold. Not only must they face extreme heat in unsuitable spaces, but they also have fewer resources to relocate or seek safe climate shelter.

Australia, normally a leader in adaptation measures, now finds itself at a crossroads. The report calls for strengthening coastal urban planning policies, investing in urban green spaces, improving building codes, and ensuring assistance for isolated communities.