Australia Closing Outback Simpson Desert To Visitors For First Time This Summer - Too Risky - AFP

[hatrack]

South Australia's outback Simpson Desert will be closed for the first time this summer to prevent visitors from dying in the extreme heat, officials said Tuesday.

The Simpson Desert Conservation Park and Regional Reserve in South Australia will be off limits from December 1 to March 15 each year, beginning next month, the South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage said. "Temperatures in the Simpson Desert during summer are extreme, with daytime temperatures of between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius (104 and 122 Fahrenheit) common," the department's head of regional operations, Trevor Naismith, said.

"Most people that cross the desert during summer are from overseas, and many do not have the driving experience for such a crossing, or a properly equipped vehicle with radio communications and recovery gear in case of an emergency."

Naismith said during summer sand dunes were soft and constantly changing shape, increasing the chance of vehicles becoming bogged down, while there was a greater risk of vehicle breakdown during the hotter months. "At a time when there are very few vehicles in the desert to provide assistance in a timely manner, this is potentially a fatal situation, especially for the inexperienced, ill-prepared visitor," he said. "This high risk also extends to emergency personnel who are called out to help stranded visitors during this period."

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/2007/081111084106.tzfuxzif.html

[ben_meyers]

1. 104 to 122 degrees?

For the cripes sake! That's just a normal day in the summer for Phoenix, has been since records have been kept.

[sailor65]

2. Except you have

a 7-11 on every corner???? :-)

[XemaSab]

3. You'll take my slurpee when you pry it from my COLD DEAD HANDS!

:o

[Systematic Chaos]

4. I have a ONE HUNDRED OUNCE insulated mug I keep for our Vegas summers.

Fill that puppy up with Diet Coke and some ice and it keeps both me and my wife hydrated during a day out on the buses.

Otherwise I'd probably just die of heat exhaustion. :scared: