India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius • Hacker News Board

Re: India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius

#141

Post by myself248 » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 3:26 PM UTC

jobigoud wrote: post #124

Isinlor wrote: post #19

These temperatures in high humidity can be deadly even to healthy and fit humans as our bodies are left without a way to cool down. Currently, they have humidity around 10-20% so it affects the most vulnerable, but global warming may lead to making parts of the world literally deadly to every human being... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature The wet-bulb temperature (WBT) is the temperature read by a…

> fatal even to fit and healthy people, unclothed in the shade next to a fan; This is scary, what's a good way to survive for someone that doesn't have access to a bunker or AC? Immersing oneself in water in a bathtub?

The water is only cooler because it's evaporating, meaning the wet-bulb temperature also describes the water's own limit.

35°C is slightly cooler than body temperature, so it would work just a little bit as a heatsink, but another degree or two and even that becomes ineffective.

Re: India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius

#142

Post by ycgeu » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 3:27 PM UTC

CydeWeys wrote: post #35

jjuhl wrote: post #26

If this happens frequently enough in sufficiently populated areas, then the resulting population die-off will eventually reduce the energy need and resulting carbon outlet and things may stabilize. Sucks for the people involved. But globally speaking, it may not be so bad.

People are mobile. What would actually happen would be the biggest refugee crisis the world has ever seen. Imagine tens of millions of climate refugees at the border of many different countries, and the choice is to let them in and take care of them or let them die right there. It's not a good situation to be in. Realistically speaking, with that many people, good luck keeping them out.

Unless they are armed, you can simply shoot at the air and they'll scram.

Re: India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius

#143

Post by amai » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 3:27 PM UTC

Iran can top this easily:

"the temperature was 53.7 degrees Celsius, which is 128.7 degrees Fahrenheit"

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/weather/2017/06/29/129-degrees...

The https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_index, which also takes humidity into account, hit an incredible 142 degrees.

Re: India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius

#144

Post by ss248 » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 3:28 PM UTC

jjuhl wrote: post #132

ss248 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Humans are actually special. We are smarter than any other animal on earth and have culture. Human brain is the most complex structure in the known universe, so even on that scale we are pretty special. And it simply makes no sense to just throw away millions of years of evolution. Your nihilistic worldview is very naive.

Nihilistic it may be. But please don't equate nihilism and nativity. "And it simply makes no sense to just throw away millions of years of evolution" - Why not?

To put it bluntly, because the road constant progress and improvement can potentially unveil the meaning of existence of the universe. Nihilism is naive by definition, just because you don't know the meaning, doesn't mean that there is no meaning at all.

Re: India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius

#145

Post by TheCoelacanth » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 3:28 PM UTC

ajross wrote: post #130

jobigoud wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> fatal even to fit and healthy people, unclothed in the shade next to a fan; This is scary, what's a good way to survive for someone that doesn't have access to a bunker or AC? Immersing oneself in water in a bathtub?

A tub will work, sure, as long as it's pulled from a large body of water that hasn't warmed up with the air. Hopping in the local lake is an obvious choice. But in a detached demographic sense: effectively everyone lives in a city in the modern world, and while their housing might not be air conditioned most of the major buildings are. In an emergency like this everyone would just crowd into office buildings and shop…

Offices and shopping malls are upper-middle class things in India. They would not come close to holding the entire population. There would be millions of people dying if temperatures got that high.

Re: India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius

#146

Post by amai » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 3:29 PM UTC

Isinlor wrote: post #19

These temperatures in high humidity can be deadly even to healthy and fit humans as our bodies are left without a way to cool down. Currently, they have humidity around 10-20% so it affects the most vulnerable, but global warming may lead to making parts of the world literally deadly to every human being... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature The wet-bulb temperature (WBT) is the temperature read by a…

How are https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_index related?

Re: India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius

#147

Post by myself248 » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 3:30 PM UTC

hedora wrote: post #93

jessriedel wrote: post #38

The 50 C number was observed in a desert. Death Valley, California, also a desert, spend 5 consecutive days above 54 C in 1913, the year it set the temperature record of 56.7 C.

For people that don’t know, Death Valley’s name is no exaggeration, even in modern times. Going outside there even for short periods of time is extremely dangerous for some fraction of each year. They shut the park down when this happens. A few years ago, some tourists that didn’t heed the warning ended up dead after rental van overheated. I don’t see how the populated areas already hitting comparable temperatures wi…

http://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hun...

^ This absolutely riveted me. It's a long read, but mindblowing for someone who's accustomed to a much more hospitable place.

Re: India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius

#148

Post by jackfraser » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 3:30 PM UTC

gonzo41 wrote: post #83

Isinlor wrote: post #19

These temperatures in high humidity can be deadly even to healthy and fit humans as our bodies are left without a way to cool down. Currently, they have humidity around 10-20% so it affects the most vulnerable, but global warming may lead to making parts of the world literally deadly to every human being... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature The wet-bulb temperature (WBT) is the temperature read by a…

Thanks for posting this. It's something that's really hard to communicate about climate change to people. It's also super depressing. I went down with heat stroke once and I get know what this is like. I was in hospital for 4 days after a close brush with kidney failure. So many people just think it'll be just a bit hotter in the future.

Tell me again how buying a Tesla will save this village

Re: India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius

#149

Post by nonamechicken » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 3:34 PM UTC

yantrams wrote: post #68

This has been the case almost every year this decade in India. Also, it is quite common for the government departments to fudge data and report temperatures > 50 Celsius as 49.x to avoid halting work / paying extra to those working under the Sun because there are regulations concerning this. Edit: I got to know about this practice being rampant through an activist in the South who is well versed with the labour laws.

I am not sure if this is true. This is from my state (which is in South India) this year (March-April) when the temperature was in the 35-40 degrees range. Highest recorded was 42 degrees I think in a border district. I don't think South India crosses 40 most of the time. One place reached 47 in 2016 [3].

>With mercury levels in Kerala rising this summer, the state’s Labour Department has issued an order allowing mandatory break time for labourers to avoid sunstroke. All labourers in the state who are exposed to sunlight which could potentially lead to a sunstroke have been ordered to rest indoors between 12 pm and 3 pm during the summer months.

>“Those working in the morning shift will get a break from 12 pm to 3 pm. Their work timings have been fixed at 8 hours from 7 in the morning to 7 in the evening. For the other shifts which begin after morning and post noon will be rescheduled to end before 12 pm and begin after 3 pm,” read the order.

>In 2018 too, the State Labour Department had issued a similar order to reschedule the shift timings of labourers during the months of February and April to avoid exposure to heat from 12 pm to 3 pm. [1]

[1] https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/kerala-govt-orders-man...

[2] https://english.manoramaonline.com/districts/thiruvananthapu...

[3] https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs...

Re: India heatwave temperatures pass 50 Celsius

#150

Post by ajross » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 3:35 PM UTC

TheCoelacanth wrote: post #145

ajross wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A tub will work, sure, as long as it's pulled from a large body of water that hasn't warmed up with the air. Hopping in the local lake is an obvious choice. But in a detached demographic sense: effectively everyone lives in a city in the modern world, and while their housing might not be air conditioned most of the major buildings are. In an emergency like this everyone would just crowd into office buildings and shop…

Offices and shopping malls are upper-middle class things in India. They would not come close to holding the entire population. There would be millions of people dying if temperatures got that high.

I'd want to see cites for that, honestly. Obviously India's commerce centers can't come close to handling a billion shoppers, but there's enough floor space in the urban core of Bangalore to house the at-risk population for a 72 hour heat wave.

The point is emergency management here. And I'd bet anything that somewhere there's a workable plan drawn up for exactly this kind of occurrence.