It’s a divisive issue in Marble Bar, whose population is largely made up of civil servants, teachers, retirees and prospectors drawn to town by the promise of gold, not all of whom accept the science that the earth, and their town, are warming.

It “could be ugly,” Ms. Mawson added of what the future holds. “There’s got to be a point where you actually start to cook.”

Across Australia, people are beginning to grapple with their identity as citizens of a country where climate change is unleashing its wrath in the form of unpredictable and ferocious disasters, from flood to drought to the catastrophic bush fires in the country’s east this summer, which razed thousands of homes and destroyed more than a billion animals.

While Marble Bar’s brutal conditions represent the current global extreme, the town may offer a glimpse of a new normal for a lot more places as the world grows hotter and not even the cover of night any longer offers a reprieve.

Much of the world may need to learn the rules that come with surviving sizzling conditions, rules the people of Marble Bar already know by heart. Always stay hydrated, keep out of the sun in the hottest hours and never, ever, travel more than 10 minutes by car without water to last days in case of a breakdown.