Climate-proof 'cool refuges' needed

Cities may need "cool refuges" as climate change brings heat waves and the risk of mass casualties, engineers warn.

They've raised the prospect of vulnerable people - including the elderly and the sick - heading into air-conditioned shopping malls to survive, possibly at night.

The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), a body of engineers and scientists, released a plan on Tuesday to climate-proof the country's cities.

The report cautions that while 90 per cent of Australians live in urban areas, little has been done to prepare cities for global warming.