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

advances.sciencemag.org

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

#61

Post by edoceo »

mjn wrote: post #48
javajosh wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Practically speaking, you start wearing a mask. You start filtering the air inside, and you stop going outside. This way-of-life is already familiar to people in certain major cities, and to those with health issues that make them more vulnerable to air quality problems. It's a worse life, but it's still life.

This is one reason I hope it continues to be socially acceptable in the U.S. to wear masks. I've wanted to wear one even pre-covid for pollution and pollen, but you would get very weird looks, or even stopped by security in some cases.

I still wear mine. Recently visited family who live in $RED_VOTER area. Got a bunch of looks from the locals. Nobody said anything - and who cares if they did? I've learned to say "fuck off" in multiple languages (thank you internet!)

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

#62

Post by WillDaSilva »

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.

I've never heard of such a claim, and that seems unintuitive. Why would that be? Do you have a source you could direct me to to learn more about this?

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

#63

Post by mrow84 »

chrisco255 wrote: post #46
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…

"The study — published in the British journal The Lancet — analyzed data on more than 74 million deaths in 13 countries between 1985 and 2012. Of those, 5.4 million deaths were related to cold, while 311,000 were related to heat." Study: Cold kills 20 times more people than heat https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2015/05/20/cold-weath...

Do you think that having more extreme weather events will reduce the number of weather related deaths, or increase them?

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

#65

Post by yann2 »

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…

After a car accident, I had to depend on public transport in the boondocks where my job required shuttling from site to site in very humid hot tropical weather. I thought I was going to die that first week.

One of the locals finally told me I couldnt just walk out of airconditioned low humidity offices into the street and roam around, without giving my body 10-15 minutes to recalibrate. So before setting out from air conditioned buildings, I would stand outside in the shade for a bit and then head out. And that made a big difference. I started sweating less and didnt feel humidity as much.

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

#67

Post by ghshephard »

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…

Having lived in Singapore for five years (2012-2017) (and worked out in the field for about 50% of that time) I can say that Singapore is one of the milder places to live. It never ever gets particularly hot (I genuinely can't recall a 100+ degree day in the entire time I was there), and the humidity, while, "sticky" is never really extreme. The thing that gets to you is that the climate never seems to change (with the exception of a lot of rain) - it's always pretty humid and in the high 70s/low 80s, 24x7x365.

Once you acclimate to it though - it's fine - I used to do a 5 mile run every day from Anson Road/GardensByTheBay/MBS - wasn't an issue.

I worked in Dubai for about 6 months, and there were days there that I honestly thought I might die if I didn't get somewhere cool. And it wasn't the days that were 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 Celsius) (though those were intense) - but the 100-105 degrees at super high humidity that would knock you on your back. Your entire body would be instantly bathed in sweat and it wouldn't help.

I was fine without Air Conditioning in Singapore - would sometimes turn mine off and just open the windows, but I can imagine anyone doing that in Dubai during the hot season.

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

#68

Post by andrewmcwatters »

CryptoPunk wrote: post #66
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #64

[deleted]

The key here is humidity. With low humidity it's possible to lose heat through perspiration. With high humidity it's not.

Yes, you're right, I've updated my post to remove that bit.

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

#69

Post by losteric »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #50

It’s wild to me that even the Biden administration appears so cavalier on climate. $1.2T on infrastructure and a follow up $3.5T budget bill and in both the environmental provisions are lame. Still no carbon pricing or anything that might make Exxon execs too uncomfortable (yes, I know Exxon supports carbon pricing in public because they don’t think anyone will actually do it).

Blame Congress for the poor investments in America's future. Biden's direct influence is limited to the executive branch.

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

#70

Post by _moof »

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #64

[deleted]

The limit is 35°C wet bulb temperature. The temperature you're accustomed to reading is dry bulb. You can't compare wet and dry bulb readings; they're completely different measures.

The annual maximum wet bulb temperature in Arizona the last few years has been about 24°C. You were nowhere near the limit.

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