By Will Ockenden
Experts are warning people to be careful of heatwaves, saying they are a natural disaster responsible for killing the largest number of people in Australia.
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Classifying exactly what a heatwave is or is not has long been a topic of discussion among scientists, and it has proven difficult for researchers to reach a consensus as to what a "heatwave event" is. However, the Bureau of Meteorology has come up with a scheme which classifies a heatwave as a low, severe or extreme event. Dr Loridan said he had built upon that scheme to come up with a system that classifies heatwaves in a similar way to the way cyclones are classified.
"It is a way to communicate the risk [in] a similar fashion to what is done for tropical cyclones," he said.