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Nearly the hottest place on Earth, India swelters under intense heat wave

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Re: Nearly the hottest place on Earth, India swelters under intense heat wave

#161
post #65

Instead of relying solely on air conditioning, which often adds to greenhouse gas emissions if run on fossil power, there are a number of passive solar design strategies that work without additional energy: - Solar chimneys draw cool air in when it’s sunny via pressure differential - Building orientation along with natural shading from deciduous trees prevent excessive solar insolation heating the building - Building…

Thanks for the excellent resource. A big part of this problem is self inflicted.

We used to have thick mud walled houses which stayed cool during scorching heat. People who could afford would go with stone constructions. Things such as sun and wind direction were also considered while constructing the houses. All that knowledge is discarded in favour of high rising concrete jungles.

But all that is replaced with concrete based constructions with almost no insulations. This makes inside even more uncomfortable than outside once the wall have absorbed heat. Commercial construction is even worse with lots of glass.

Re: Nearly the hottest place on Earth, India swelters under intense heat wave

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a force in the opposite direction, because all the tree carbon and soil carbon currently stored in those areas will likely burn or decay, increasing total atmospheric carbon. Also permafrost melting will release huge amounts of methane. Lots of positive feedback loops that will be going independent of burning fossil fuels.

locks and loads clathrate gun

Thanks, that was a fun read.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clathrate_gun_hypothesis

Re: Nearly the hottest place on Earth, India swelters under intense heat wave

#163
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An Indian heat wave is the premise of the story. I stopped reading it after a couple of chapters.

Yeah it gets monotonous after a while, but the first third of the book or so is very good.

I couldn't finish it either but the beginning was good!

Re: Nearly the hottest place on Earth, India swelters under intense heat wave

#165

Just a personal anecdote to provide some context of how hot it really is. I'm from the south of India and now live in Europe. My body tolerates heat quite well compared to my European friends. I remember tolerating 38-40C indoor temperatures and sleeping through it with heavy sweating. But air temperature of 42C is where I draw the line. It is almost biologically impossible to survive this. So this story isn't just a…

This is also known as the wet bulb temperature, and it is a function of the humidity.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature

If I were in a position of decision making in India, I would invest in large deployments of passive radiative cooling films: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/energy-conservation-us/applicati...

These reflect nearly all the sunlight energy and cool their surroundings night and day by controlled black body emmisive radiation. (interestingly, for cooling applications, per unit area they are more power efficient than solar panels + AC, because solar only is working during the day, whereas passive cooling films also work at night)

Re: Nearly the hottest place on Earth, India swelters under intense heat wave

#166
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Hilarious" is not the word I'd use. "Dispiriting", "Irresponsible", "Fucked up". I don't understand why we aren't pouring massive amounts of money into public transport. Apparently many people in Western Europe seem to enjoy being stuck in traffic for hours every day. For some reason, company cars are still a thing in Belgium, very nearly everyone working in IT gets one. I can't wrap my head around how stupid this i…

Public transport hasn't solved the problem of "the last mile". How do I get to/from the train station/bus stop? Frequently you still need a car to even get there and then you will need parking - which is often limited and costs a lot. Then there's timeliness. Deutsche Bahn is known for frequently their trains are delayed. In summer, even on the Intercity connections (IC, ICE) trains will be filled to the brim and air…

Bikes are great for solving transit’s last-mile problem provided it’s at all close to the last mile and not, say, the last 15. E-bikes especially so.

Beyond that, yes, transit schedules need to be frequent and reliable, with frequency especially being important if you have to make lots of transfers. It’s no big deal if you miss your train if another one will be there in a few minutes; if you have to wait 15-30 though, a slight delay can be a problem. For buses, giving them their own right-of-way is important.

Long-term though, as another commenter mentioned, we need to enable more people to live closer to work. I’m not sure what much of Germany is like (have only visited Berlin and Munich) but in the US we have a ton of sprawling suburbs because it’s not legal to build anything denser than single-family homes in most places here. Especially those places that already have good transit connections need to densify, and then the places nearest them need to do the same and build good transit connections.

Re: Nearly the hottest place on Earth, India swelters under intense heat wave

#167
post #50

And here in the western world, people still don't like using public transport and their bikes (when they can). It's difficult to be optimistic, but it seems there is nothing that will truly limit fossil fuel consumption. Maybe some oil producing countries could get in some sort of alliance, and artificially limit the amount of oil they extract, in return for subsidies? Those countries could also put a tariff on oil.…

You mean the US, because in a lot of european countries, we very much like using our public transports and bikes

Re: Nearly the hottest place on Earth, India swelters under intense heat wave

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who was in Europe for one of the heatwaves of recent years, and whose appartment was in one of these older buildings designed this ways with thick walls etc., I can attest that this only works up to a point . This design relies on there being cold air for the building to retain. However, in a heatwave it doesn't even get cold at night. The result is your apartment gradually heating over a period of days /…

I grew in Southern Europe (around 30C every day in summer, more in full sun) when no-one had aircon at home and no-one had aircon in cars. It's hot, you live with it. I'm sure it's worse on the other side of the Med. It's one of the reasons the traditional 'siesta' exists and towns and villages are virtually dead until 5pm. The issue I have with aircon is that it makes people ignore the local climate and, worse, acti…

Staying indoor in 24C air-conditioned spaces conditions the body so badly that even 28C starts to feel bad. I noticed this in my own behaviour and thought of changing it last month. For a change, I decided to drive without air conditioning. It felt bad for a few minutes, then it gets better and when I come back to a cooler place it feels like heaven.

Exposing yourself to the elements is greatly rewarding.

Re: Nearly the hottest place on Earth, India swelters under intense heat wave

#169
post #149

Never knew Himalayan range is so effective. India should build artificial mountain range to stop heat weave entering the region.

Maybe blow some parts of the Himalayas so the cold air can enter the Indian mainland.

and let Chinese in? nah.

Re: Nearly the hottest place on Earth, India swelters under intense heat wave

#170
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Hilarious" is not the word I'd use. "Dispiriting", "Irresponsible", "Fucked up". I don't understand why we aren't pouring massive amounts of money into public transport. Apparently many people in Western Europe seem to enjoy being stuck in traffic for hours every day. For some reason, company cars are still a thing in Belgium, very nearly everyone working in IT gets one. I can't wrap my head around how stupid this i…

Public transport hasn't solved the problem of "the last mile". How do I get to/from the train station/bus stop? Frequently you still need a car to even get there and then you will need parking - which is often limited and costs a lot. Then there's timeliness. Deutsche Bahn is known for frequently their trains are delayed. In summer, even on the Intercity connections (IC, ICE) trains will be filled to the brim and air…

> How do I get to/from the train station/bus stop?

By foot, bike, trotinette. If it's too far, that isn't good public transit and/or you live too far.

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