Australia’s busiest days of the week... by temperature

Melbourne's busiest day is Thursday, Sydneysiders are hardest at it on a Friday while Sunday commonly appears to be a day of rest, according to a new analysis of city temperatures. The new research, led by the University of Melbourne, investigated temperatures in some of Australia's major cities to reveal a fascinating insight into just how human activity affects the urban environment. Dr Nick Earl and Professor Ian Simmonds from the University's School of Earth Sciences, along with Professor Nigel Tapper from Monash University, are interested in identifying weekly cycles in nature. Doing so proves an anthropogenic influence since nothing in nature conforms to a weekly pattern. They analysed surface temperature data dating as far back as 1943 from seven of Australia's major cities, including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Cairns. Canberra was left out because its meteorological station has moved too many times and Darwin's was too far removed from the city centre. The study showed that weekly cycles in daytime temperatures occur in almost all of the tested cities, with the strongest signals in those with bigger populations, such as Sydney and Melbourne.