ABSTRACT
Climates are changing, temperatures warming, weather patterns varying and extreme events intensifying. This chapter explores how individuals find comfort under dynamic weather conditions in a variety of spaces (both indoors and out), involving different daily activities. It examines accounts from two Australian study areas with contrasting climatic and cultural contexts – temperate Melbourne and tropical Darwin. The chapter recognizes all three seasons – the Build-up, the Wet, and the Dry. Darwin’s tropical location also exposes it to cyclonic events. Participants in both Melbourne and Darwin adjusted to weather on a daily basis. Adjustments included both energy-intensive and non-intensive strategies. Diverting rampant trends may require abandoning pursuits for ‘comfort’ and advocating for ‘satisfactory’ and ‘manageable’ conditions. During the Dry, participants celebrated low humidity and daily maximum temperatures, conditions that compensated for the previous less-than-comfortable seasons. Health and physiology, residential history and activity association were all implicated in Melbourne participants’ broad perceptions of thermal comfort.
