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Humanity Is Dangerously Pushing Its Ability to Tolerate Heat

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Re: Humanity Is Dangerously Pushing Its Ability to Tolerate Heat

#2
A friend of mine who lives in Queensland (Sunshine Coast) was talking about a recent spell of 32° and 100% humidity and how oppressive it was.

My understanding is that such weather is not survivable long term [1] without air conditioning. A power failure would be disastrous.

[1] https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/humans-cant-endure-t...

Re: Humanity Is Dangerously Pushing Its Ability to Tolerate Heat

#3

A friend of mine who lives in Queensland (Sunshine Coast) was talking about a recent spell of 32° and 100% humidity and how oppressive it was. My understanding is that such weather is not survivable long term [1] without air conditioning. A power failure would be disastrous. [1] https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/humans-cant-endure-t...

Try living in Goa in the monsoon season. Or even rewatch Apocalypse Now or basically any Vietnam war movie.

I assure you, even 36C/100% is survivable.

Re: Humanity Is Dangerously Pushing Its Ability to Tolerate Heat

#4

A friend of mine who lives in Queensland (Sunshine Coast) was talking about a recent spell of 32° and 100% humidity and how oppressive it was. My understanding is that such weather is not survivable long term [1] without air conditioning. A power failure would be disastrous. [1] https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/humans-cant-endure-t...

You say long term... I have walked 10 minutes or so in ~35/90, closer to the end of that was not certain if I will pass out on the street at any time. The body is unable to sweat off.

It's one thing in cloudy weather with wind and rain but in sunny clear weather it felt deadly

Re: Humanity Is Dangerously Pushing Its Ability to Tolerate Heat

#5

A friend of mine who lives in Queensland (Sunshine Coast) was talking about a recent spell of 32° and 100% humidity and how oppressive it was. My understanding is that such weather is not survivable long term [1] without air conditioning. A power failure would be disastrous. [1] https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/humans-cant-endure-t...

Much of Queensland's population lives on the coast, so those who can tolerate the sun could at least seek some reprieve in the ocean.

As long as cold water is running, people can also use tap water to cool themselves down, though it will turn into a swampy mess when none of it evaporates. Perhaps public shaded pools with a cool water source will become critical public infrastructure to help people survive heat waves if the electricity goes out.

If it's above 32 degrees and 100% humidity at all hours though, it would be pretty miserable as you wouldn't have anywhere to sleep (unless you have a car with A/C, and masses running their cars overnight will just contribute that much more to the climate change)

Re: Humanity Is Dangerously Pushing Its Ability to Tolerate Heat

#6
post #3

A friend of mine who lives in Queensland (Sunshine Coast) was talking about a recent spell of 32° and 100% humidity and how oppressive it was. My understanding is that such weather is not survivable long term [1] without air conditioning. A power failure would be disastrous. [1] https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/humans-cant-endure-t...

Try living in Goa in the monsoon season. Or even rewatch Apocalypse Now or basically any Vietnam war movie. I assure you, even 36C/100% is survivable.

Survivable for many, but still dangerous. 36C is at the limit though. 35C is already dangerous

Re: Humanity Is Dangerously Pushing Its Ability to Tolerate Heat

#7
post #3

A friend of mine who lives in Queensland (Sunshine Coast) was talking about a recent spell of 32° and 100% humidity and how oppressive it was. My understanding is that such weather is not survivable long term [1] without air conditioning. A power failure would be disastrous. [1] https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/humans-cant-endure-t...

Try living in Goa in the monsoon season. Or even rewatch Apocalypse Now or basically any Vietnam war movie. I assure you, even 36C/100% is survivable.

The science says otherwise, but specific populations are likely better adapted to higher temperatures than the average.

An extended period of 36C/100% is going to pose serious danger for most people

Re: Humanity Is Dangerously Pushing Its Ability to Tolerate Heat

#8

A friend of mine who lives in Queensland (Sunshine Coast) was talking about a recent spell of 32° and 100% humidity and how oppressive it was. My understanding is that such weather is not survivable long term [1] without air conditioning. A power failure would be disastrous. [1] https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/humans-cant-endure-t...

We had a run of five days at 45 C and near 50% humidity here in W.Australia last month - bit unpleasant.

Later in the month the days that were 30 C and 90% humidity felt worse when working.

Re: Humanity Is Dangerously Pushing Its Ability to Tolerate Heat

#9
post #3

A friend of mine who lives in Queensland (Sunshine Coast) was talking about a recent spell of 32° and 100% humidity and how oppressive it was. My understanding is that such weather is not survivable long term [1] without air conditioning. A power failure would be disastrous. [1] https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/humans-cant-endure-t...

Try living in Goa in the monsoon season. Or even rewatch Apocalypse Now or basically any Vietnam war movie. I assure you, even 36C/100% is survivable.

The average daily high for Goa in July is like 30C. No, 36C at 100% for an extended period (6-8 hours) is extremely, extremely lethal. Could some people survive it? Probably. But yeah, exaggerating how hot Goa is to dismiss the problem is sort of exactly the problem.

Re: Humanity Is Dangerously Pushing Its Ability to Tolerate Heat

#10
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try living in Goa in the monsoon season. Or even rewatch Apocalypse Now or basically any Vietnam war movie. I assure you, even 36C/100% is survivable.

The science says otherwise, but specific populations are likely better adapted to higher temperatures than the average. An extended period of 36C/100% is going to pose serious danger for most people

Yes that is true. I am very good at tolerating very high heat. But like you said, past the bulb temperature nothing can save you if you don't have something colder to exchang heat with.
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