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The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

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Re: The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

#51

Post by nradov »

princeb wrote: post #42
boplicity wrote: post #2

Kim Stanley Robinson's recent book The Ministry For the Future starts with a very disturbing scenario: A heatwave with a "web bulb" temperature of 35 Celsius. It turns out, in those temperatures, even young and healthy people can't survive. Combined with power outages, as happens in the book, everyone living under such a heat wave will likely die. It's looking increasingly likely that such heatwaves are possible in t…

i probably have a comment somewhere recently, but singapore is already in WBT >35 conditions in the day. it eases to around 30 at night or when rain falls. as long as power is running, it's actually fine in this country, but that's because we've designed our living space around the heat. it is entirely possible to never be exposed to the sun in a normal day in the life of a working resident here if you stay in the ri…

Lack of sun exposure can cause hypovitaminosis D, which is a known risk factor for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. It also impacts nitric oxide production which is a factor in cardiovascular system health. Supplements can mitigate the problems to an extent but are inferior to natural sun exposure.

And before anyone brings up skin cancer, there is no reliable evidence that brief daily sun exposure increases all cause mortality.

Re: The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

#52

Post by poorjohnmacafee »

princeb wrote: post #42
boplicity wrote: post #2

Kim Stanley Robinson's recent book The Ministry For the Future starts with a very disturbing scenario: A heatwave with a "web bulb" temperature of 35 Celsius. It turns out, in those temperatures, even young and healthy people can't survive. Combined with power outages, as happens in the book, everyone living under such a heat wave will likely die. It's looking increasingly likely that such heatwaves are possible in t…

i probably have a comment somewhere recently, but singapore is already in WBT >35 conditions in the day. it eases to around 30 at night or when rain falls. as long as power is running, it's actually fine in this country, but that's because we've designed our living space around the heat. it is entirely possible to never be exposed to the sun in a normal day in the life of a working resident here if you stay in the ri…

Yes, I sometimes feel like I'm at death's door when jogging outdoors. Myself and some Westerners I know haven't "adapted", even after years being here. The strategy is just always have ice water in hand if outdoors for prolonged time. I sometimes get laughed at for not adjusting to the heat, but I think it's just too much for some genetic lineages from outside tropics.

Unfortunately a large percentage of folks in HDB flats don't have AC, so I do fear for many citizens in Singapore. With global warming trends it should simply be a free or heavily subsidized utility here.

Re: The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

#53

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

princeb wrote: post #42
boplicity wrote: post #2

Kim Stanley Robinson's recent book The Ministry For the Future starts with a very disturbing scenario: A heatwave with a "web bulb" temperature of 35 Celsius. It turns out, in those temperatures, even young and healthy people can't survive. Combined with power outages, as happens in the book, everyone living under such a heat wave will likely die. It's looking increasingly likely that such heatwaves are possible in t…

i probably have a comment somewhere recently, but singapore is already in WBT >35 conditions in the day. it eases to around 30 at night or when rain falls. as long as power is running, it's actually fine in this country, but that's because we've designed our living space around the heat. it is entirely possible to never be exposed to the sun in a normal day in the life of a working resident here if you stay in the ri…

https://data.gov.sg/dataset/wet-bulb-temperature-hourly?view...

The Changi airport weather station does not have any recordings of a 35C wet bulb temperature. And this paper suggests that it is a very uncommon occurrence as yet. What source are you using?

Re: The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

#54

Post by mrpopo »

briantakita wrote: post #33
hamburgerwah wrote: post #12

It's hilarious to me that people somehow think hot is MUCH more dangerous than cold. If you do any homework you will see which end results in more deaths.

There's a far larger area of the world which is too cold & dry for human tolerance, yet people survive & thrive there. Probably the same for places which are hot & humid. There are some interesting documentaries on Yakutsk, the "coldest city in the world".

I think it's good to note that Yakutia is burning at a rapid rate.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/20/everything-is-...

Re: The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

#55

Post by joshuakelly »

boplicity wrote: post #2

Kim Stanley Robinson's recent book The Ministry For the Future starts with a very disturbing scenario: A heatwave with a "web bulb" temperature of 35 Celsius. It turns out, in those temperatures, even young and healthy people can't survive. Combined with power outages, as happens in the book, everyone living under such a heat wave will likely die. It's looking increasingly likely that such heatwaves are possible in t…

This feels like one of those prescient HN comments that are cited in the future. IDK, just... replying to say I was a witness too.

Re: The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

#56

Post by shreyshnaccount »

boplicity wrote: post #2

Kim Stanley Robinson's recent book The Ministry For the Future starts with a very disturbing scenario: A heatwave with a "web bulb" temperature of 35 Celsius. It turns out, in those temperatures, even young and healthy people can't survive. Combined with power outages, as happens in the book, everyone living under such a heat wave will likely die. It's looking increasingly likely that such heatwaves are possible in t…

oh OK, so no one will do anything about it and it's probably gonna happen and when it does it will be. out of the news cycle in a few days. noted.

Re: The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

#57

Post by davidw »

joe_the_user wrote: post #49
Johnny555 wrote: post #37

Similar question to this that I've been wondering this wildfire season -- at what point is AQI (Air Quality Index) too severe for human tolerance? The scale tops out at 500, what happens to a person if the air is even worse than that? Some sensors near Medford, OR are reading in the upper 400's and even low 500's -- what happens if it hits what would be the 1000's if the scale went that high? I'm mostly thinking of p…

I think it was high 500's here (Nevada City) a last week. I wore a mask for the short period I had to go outdoors. Ideally, you'd want a VOC filter along with a HEPA filter. It's a hostile environment - so is a blizzard. That's not saying it's not a problem but humans are able to survive a lot.

We had over 500 here in Bend, Oregon thanks to numerous wildfires to the west of us, last September: https://www.opb.org/article/2020/09/15/oregons-air-is-so-haz...

It was an awful time. Couldn't be outside because of the air, couldn't have guests over because of the pandemic.

Re: The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

#58

Post by awakeasleep »

poorjohnmacafee wrote: post #52
princeb wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i probably have a comment somewhere recently, but singapore is already in WBT >35 conditions in the day. it eases to around 30 at night or when rain falls. as long as power is running, it's actually fine in this country, but that's because we've designed our living space around the heat. it is entirely possible to never be exposed to the sun in a normal day in the life of a working resident here if you stay in the ri…

Yes, I sometimes feel like I'm at death's door when jogging outdoors. Myself and some Westerners I know haven't "adapted", even after years being here. The strategy is just always have ice water in hand if outdoors for prolonged time. I sometimes get laughed at for not adjusting to the heat, but I think it's just too much for some genetic lineages from outside tropics. Unfortunately a large percentage of folks in HDB…

I've been thinking about this, and it's seeming like childhood exposure to prolonged heat and humidity may be what gives you the ability to handle it as an adult.

It's just an anecdote, of course, but there are notable examples of people i think should be from genetic backgrounds that could handle the heat that can't, and vice versa.

Re: The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

#59

Post by losteric »

nradov wrote: post #51
princeb wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i probably have a comment somewhere recently, but singapore is already in WBT >35 conditions in the day. it eases to around 30 at night or when rain falls. as long as power is running, it's actually fine in this country, but that's because we've designed our living space around the heat. it is entirely possible to never be exposed to the sun in a normal day in the life of a working resident here if you stay in the ri…

Lack of sun exposure can cause hypovitaminosis D, which is a known risk factor for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. It also impacts nitric oxide production which is a factor in cardiovascular system health. Supplements can mitigate the problems to an extent but are inferior to natural sun exposure. And before anyone brings up skin cancer, there is no reliable evidence that brief daily sun exposure increases al…

> Supplements can mitigate the problems to an extent but are inferior to natural sun exposure.

Inferior how?

Re: The emergence of heat and humidity too severe for human tolerance (2020)

#60

Post by sen »

I’ve been saying for years now that we’ll most probably see a time in our lifetime where you need to wear a (light) space-suit style thing to go outside in some seasons. Insulated and actively heated/cooled, possible with air filtration for pollution/smoke/etc. There’s already been some companies playing with the idea as a prototype/art/statement level but I truly think it’s inevitable that it becomes more common.
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