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Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here’s What to Expect

nytimes.com

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Re: Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here’s What to Expect

#11

Post by dhdidhdu »

hpoe wrote: post #4

So I get that the infrastructure isn't as well in place to deal with things like this but where I live 100+ isn't that absurd, and that's nothing to say for places like Arizonia which is two blocks away from the sun and 90 is considered cool, with 100+ being a common occurrence. So what makes this particularly bad?

If T is above body temperature anD there is high levels of humidity you can’t lower your temperature by sweating. Therefore, your body temperature will raise to match the environment T even if you don’t twitch a muscle.

On the other hand, if it’s dry the human body can sweat away prodigious amounts of heat

Re: Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here’s What to Expect

#12

Post by Kye »

bspn wrote: post #9
hpoe wrote: post #4

So I get that the infrastructure isn't as well in place to deal with things like this but where I live 100+ isn't that absurd, and that's nothing to say for places like Arizonia which is two blocks away from the sun and 90 is considered cool, with 100+ being a common occurrence. So what makes this particularly bad?

The humidity amplifies the effects of the heat. I remember the first time I travelled to Arizona and was expecting to suffer when I saw the forecast temperatures were 100+, but the dry heat was - I hesitate to say comfortable - but very different from a 90 degree day on the East Coast with high humidity. An extended period of extreme heat + humidity can be brutal on the body, particularly those already vulnerable or…

The reaction of someone who moved from a desert to Georgia is always interesting. Everyone has a unique way of processing the huge puddles of water under their car. Sometimes it's "oh yeah, humidity." Sometimes it's panic.

Re: Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here’s What to Expect

#13

Post by taneq »

rubidium wrote: post #8
hpoe wrote: post #4

So I get that the infrastructure isn't as well in place to deal with things like this but where I live 100+ isn't that absurd, and that's nothing to say for places like Arizonia which is two blocks away from the sun and 90 is considered cool, with 100+ being a common occurrence. So what makes this particularly bad?

“infrastructure isn't as well in place to deal with things like this“ and people don’t know how to either. It’s similar to blizzards in Georgia. Minnesota is fine with 6” snow. In Georgia it’s lots more risk because of the lack of experience. It’s bad because people (usually already frail) get heatstroke/overheated and die.

> people (usually already frail)

This always makes these sort of dire predictions sound exaggerated to me. There’s always a population of (usually older) people who are nearing the end and we seem irrationally unwilling to accept “old age” as a cause of death. Any slight disturbance is then blamed and we get dramatic headlines about “hundreds die in 35C heatwave.”

Re: Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here’s What to Expect

#15

Post by gamblor956 »

jaytaylor wrote: post #3

Now NYT disables reading from incognito. Lame. http://archive.is/cF01U

WaPo has been doing that for a few months. LATimes started doing that this week as well.

Use Firefox's reader mode. You might need to refresh once or twice to get the full NYT article in reader mode.

Re: Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here’s What to Expect

#16

Post by eli »

joemaller1 wrote: post #14
jaytaylor wrote: post #3

Now NYT disables reading from incognito. Lame. http://archive.is/cF01U

Logging in sort of defeats the point of private mode.

Most people were using private mode to read more articles than they paywall allows without paying for a subscription.

Re: Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here’s What to Expect

#17

Post by gamblor956 »

hpoe wrote: post #4

So I get that the infrastructure isn't as well in place to deal with things like this but where I live 100+ isn't that absurd, and that's nothing to say for places like Arizonia which is two blocks away from the sun and 90 is considered cool, with 100+ being a common occurrence. So what makes this particularly bad?

The East and Midwest is a lot more humid than the West (especially the Southeast), and humid air transfers more heat. Thus, 100 degrees in Alabama's 90% humidity is a lot worse than 100 degrees in Arizona's 10% humidity.

Re: Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here’s What to Expect

#18

Post by staticautomatic »

realbarack wrote: post #10
techntoke wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've been lame every since implementing article limits. It's the freaking news. Who wants to pay to read the news, especially when the articles are shared all over the web?

I pay to read the news because I prefer to get information from high-quality organizations that I trust to hire skilled, relatively objective journalists who will work hard to accurately report a story. So much of unpaid journalism is bloggers re-hashing the work of these big(ger)-budget news agencies, often with less clarity and more partisan slant. Not to say NYT, WaPo, WSJ and other high-quality paid sources are p…

The NY Times doesn't exactly have a consistent record of skilled, relatively objective reporting.

Re: Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here’s What to Expect

#19

Post by jointpdf »

Retric wrote: post #7
hpoe wrote: post #4

So I get that the infrastructure isn't as well in place to deal with things like this but where I live 100+ isn't that absurd, and that's nothing to say for places like Arizonia which is two blocks away from the sun and 90 is considered cool, with 100+ being a common occurrence. So what makes this particularly bad?

Heat index is by far more useful than temperature when discussing this. At 90f at 90% humidity is more dangerous and feels hotter than 102 at 50% humidity. 100f at 65% humidity feels like 136f and higher humidity quickly turns deadly. Or as the article puts it, extreme heat killed 108 people last year.

Yep, and the effects are nonlinear. i.e. increasing marginal danger from every +1F or +5%. Here’s a helpful chart: https://s3.amazonaws.com/bncore/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/h...

Re: Heat Wave to Hit Two-Thirds of the U.S. Here’s What to Expect

#20

Post by danso »

techntoke wrote: post #6
jaytaylor wrote: post #3

Now NYT disables reading from incognito. Lame. http://archive.is/cF01U

They've been lame every since implementing article limits. It's the freaking news. Who wants to pay to read the news, especially when the articles are shared all over the web?

Because it costs money to pay the professionals who report and write the articles?
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