Cutting-edge research and practical decision-making are helping the Australian Open make a call when the weather gets too hot to handle
A blockbuster match at the Australian Open is going the distance. A palpable stillness blankets Rod Laver Arena as beads of sweat gather on the athletes’ skin, cascading to the floor ahead of yet another arduous point. Under the scorching sun, beneath a stifling heat, a universal question lingers—how hot is too hot to continue?
This year, heat hasn’t been a major talking point: Novak Djokovic’s verbal spat with a spectator is about as hot as the tournament has been so far, with temperate conditions meaning that play has been largely uninterrupted.
But a Grand Slam tennis tournament is just one example of the many major events held all over the world during the hottest months of the year, where the urgency to manage risk to help improve conditions for players, operational success and spectator welfare is becoming increasingly important.
For spectators and organisers alike, a common strategy to try and help answer this question is to take out a phone—if it hasn’t already overheated—and check the temperature as provided by the nearest weather station. While tempting, this method doesn’t provide the complete picture.
For starters, air temperature, measured in the shade, is only one of four factors to consider when trying to understand how weather impacts people. Heat added by the sun also known as radiant temperature, the movement of air around the individual or air velocity, and the amount of water vapour in the air, all also contribute to how someone responds to the heat.
