Major competition undergoes sudden change as catastrophic threat looms over venue: 'Some of the most significant … we have seen'

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According to The New York Times, the Australian Open tennis tournament, scheduled for the second half of January amid peak summer weather in the Southern Hemisphere, has been forced to rearrange some of its matches and adjust court assignments in anticipation of 100-degree afternoon temperatures in Melbourne. 

The tournament has shifted its morning start time earlier by an hour, making room for an additional match in Margaret Court Arena — one of only three available indoor courts. 

It's not the first time the Australian Open has had to account for intolerable weather conditions. In 2019, per the Times, the tournament introduced a "Heat Stress Scale" to account for "the four climate factors — air temperature, radiant heat or the strength of the sun, humidity, and wind speed — which affect a player's ability to disperse heat from their body."

Why are frequent heat waves concerning?

In addition to being unbearable for athletes active at the time, these high summer temperatures are symptomatic of a climate that's changing for the worse.

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