What happens to the human body in 49C heat? Australians are finding out (www.theguardian.com)
from HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works to world@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 05:25
https://sh.itjust.works/post/54182323

Australia’s southern states are scorching in extreme heat that could break temperature records in Victoria and South Australia on Tuesday.

At Ouyen and Mildura in north-west Victoria, temperatures of 49C were forecast for Tuesday afternoon. If reached, they would break the state’s all-time temperature record of 48.8C, set in Hopetoun on Black Saturday in 2009. By 1pm, temperatures of 46.2C in Ouyen and 44.8C in Mildura had been recorded.

At Ouyen and Mildura in north-west Victoria, temperatures of 49C were forecast for Tuesday afternoon. If reached, they would break the state’s all-time temperature record of 48.8C, set in Hopetoun on Black Saturday in 2009. By 1pm, temperatures of 46.2C in Ouyen and 44.8C in Mildura had been recorded.

In Adelaide, the mercury hit 40C before 9.30am on Tuesday, after overnight lows of 35C, BoM observations showed.

Extreme heat is the most common cause of weather-related hospitalisations in Australia, and kills more people than all other natural hazards combined. What does exposure to extreme heat – such as a temperature of 49C – do to the body?

#world

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LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net on 27 Jan 05:48 next collapse

That’s pretty damn hot. Around 120 F for those imperialists among us.

JennyLaFae@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 27 Jan 06:14 next collapse

Dangerously hot, those are “fall and the sidewalk can burn you” temperatures.

kingofras@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 07:29 collapse

It’s not that we’re not imperial, it’s just that we use very logical measuring units.

ramenshaman@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 11:20 collapse

Speaking as an American mechanical engineer who had to learn both systems… Do we? Do we really? Is multiplying everything by 10 not logical enough for you?

DiploRaucous@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 14:36 next collapse

Pretty sure they were saying where they are, outside of the US, is also imperial but uses more logical units of measure (i.e. metric). Double-negative and all that.

captainlezbian@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 19:42 collapse

I assume they meant aussies. You know, the country that the article is about, that uses metric, and that celebrated their genocide day yesterday

psx_crab@lemmy.zip on 27 Jan 06:09 next collapse

Wow, my tropical country often gone to 34/35°c high humid in hot days, can’t imaging anything higher than that.

stoy@lemmy.zip on 27 Jan 06:18 next collapse

Once temps hit more than 37C and 100% humidity, the human body loses the ability to regulate it’s temperature through sweating.

ms_lane@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 06:21 next collapse

It’s dry as a bone here right now. (That’s good)

Also means it’s all a big tinderbox. (That’s bad)

prex@aussie.zone on 27 Jan 07:33 collapse

It makes evaporative air conditioners work better (That’s good)

cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca on 27 Jan 06:38 next collapse

Isn’t this called wet bulb or something and lethal?

stoy@lemmy.zip on 27 Jan 06:46 collapse

That was it, yes!

dgriffith@aussie.zone on 27 Jan 07:58 next collapse

I’ve worked in mines in the desert in South Australia where temps semi regularly hit 46-47 degrees.

It’s OK (ish) because the humidity is low. But you can drink a litre an hour all day (11+ hours) and not need to pee. All that water goes somewhere.

The underground workings are often more dangerous, with lower temperatures but higher humidity. Once wet bulb temps get above 34 degrees underground personnel need to retreat from the area and the only work that can be done there then is work to fix the ventilation.

There’s heat stress meters that measure wet and dry bulb temperatures and airflow, and can basically compute cooling power in watts. Not enough cooling power -> everyone out.

stoy@lemmy.zip on 27 Jan 08:03 next collapse

I can only imagine, as I sit on the Stockholm metro with cold and damp feet after walking through snow and some slush to get to the bus earlier.

I am happy to hear that you have rules and regulations for these eventualities.

phutatorius@lemmy.zip on 27 Jan 09:28 collapse

Yeah, in those conditions, you live and die by wet bulb temperatures.

Buffalox@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 09:15 next collapse

Actually at 100% humidity the highest survivable temperature for a human is 35 C° wet bulb temperature.
But that is with everything else being perfect, being healthy, in the shade, and perfectly hydrated, and zero physical activity.
A more realistic maximum survivable wet bulb temperature is closer to 30 C°. But 35 C° is the absolute maximum, where above that everybody dies.

myserverisdown@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 13:40 collapse

Sorry, but that’s wrong. WBGT takes radiative heat into effect when it’s calculated. The sun and shade effectively have two different WBGT readings. That’s why its measured with a black globe. Protocol is to measure ~2 meters heigh in direct sunlight away from structures that block wind so you get the worse case scenario. Like any whether reading, its localized.

dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 17:28 collapse

Yup. Wet-bulb conditions are no joke and can kill, making functioning A/C a life-saving technology if not an outright requirement for survival.

ms_lane@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 06:18 next collapse

It was ‘fun’ at work. We don’t have air con, just big sheds - plenty of ventilation though, it’s not still and not in the sun.

It’s workable, you’ve absolutely got to keep up with hydration, stop for a drink every ~10-15mins, keep the fan on you.

Double Wall 1L+ drink bottle is required, filled half with ice cubes to keep the water frosty.

Can’t imagine how bad it’d be if it was humid.

whereIsTamara@lemmy.org on 27 Jan 06:19 next collapse

Arizona gets hotter than that. Wimps.

(But seriously that’s really fucking hot)

Marshezezz@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 27 Jan 07:26 collapse

Pshh, that’s a dry heat. Try that heat with humidity so thick you sleep in a warm puddle because the night offers no relief while feeling like the air is drowning you

hector@lemmy.today on 27 Jan 07:40 collapse

I think south asia in may gets like that.

But hottest temps actually happen around 30 degrees lattitude, in season, idk what aussies are at, near there I think.

India has a weird climate though with the entire north snd east blocked by the roof of the world, so all air comes from indian ocean and south and west, backing up on mountains, and makes it super humid and just static. Same reason pollution is so bad, it just sits there instead of being pushed west with the wind.

Long story short, the hot humid thereabouts is perhaps more dangerous, especially with the air pollution mixed in.

TheBat@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 12:10 collapse

India has a weird climate though with the entire north snd east blocked by the roof of the world, so all air comes from indian ocean and south and west, backing up on mountains, and makes it super humid and just static.

Nah. Coastal regions are humid. Inland regions, North and Central India, are dry.

hector@lemmy.today on 27 Jan 13:08 collapse

That is what I was told. By an Indian. He did not mention the center though.

But the middle of landmasses are often humid, the us south, the midwest.

TheBat@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 17:13 collapse

The west coast has mountain range called Sahyadri running parallel.

It creates an effect called rain shadow where the coastal side is humid but the other side is dry.

duncan_bayne@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 06:24 next collapse

42-ish here in Belgrave. Current status: finished work, drinking a cold cider, then off to the pool.

kingofras@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 07:31 collapse

Alcohol and coffee being among the drinks to avoid once we get to wet bulb territory.

Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 08:08 next collapse

If he’s in Belgrade, good luck getting him to give up nescafe and rakia.

duncan_bayne@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 11:18 next collapse

Oh, yeah. Currently low humidity, though.

Honytawk@feddit.nl on 27 Jan 14:45 collapse

Then why do Piña Colladas taste so great in hot weather?

Checkmate Atheists

Paranoidfactoid@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 08:06 next collapse

I lived in Perth for several years and I’ve seen 45 degree heat there. It’s a desert, so it’s dry heat. But that’s hot. Real hot. 49-50 is just insane.

phutatorius@lemmy.zip on 27 Jan 09:25 next collapse

I worked in Saudi Arabia for several years. According to the law, people working outdoors can have a break when it gets over 50. Usually, that law was actually obeyed. Hottest I ever experienced was 52. You don’t have to out in that for long in order for it to be lethal, even if, as in my case, I was running every day in the desert and somewhat acclimatized to it. I’d go at 6 AM because that’s the only time it wasn’t infernally hot. The Bedouins, who know a thing or two about surviving the local climate, would get under cover and minimize activity when it got that hot.

Now I live in southwestern England, where it seldom gets above 30. I’m fine with that.

Nebraska_Huskers@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 18:11 collapse

Oh it’s nice you get a break when it hits 50. How long of a break?

Seriously the fact that we are adults and don’t just say fuck off it’s to hot and call it a day or at the very least go cool off for a hour is insane

Damage@feddit.it on 27 Jan 10:51 next collapse

I live in Italy, in the valley around our biggest river. It’s humid as fuck. Summers used to reach 32-35°C. Nowadays 40-45°C is not uncommon. Our offices are usually air-conditioned, but production areas aren’t.

tehn00bi@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 11:50 collapse

In Texas the hottest day I remember was 46 and that was miserable.

MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net on 27 Jan 08:20 next collapse

In Adelaide, the mercury hit 40C before 9.30am on Tuesday, after overnight lows of 35C

There are not enough swear words in my vocabulary to successfully articulate my reaction to that.

Nebraska_Huskers@lemmy.world on 27 Jan 18:08 collapse

40c is 104F, it’s not common but it happens where I live at least a few times a summer.

49c is 120F that wouldnt be fun

My state high happened near where I live in 1934. 118 degrees.

Personally I think the highest I’ve experienced is 112.

Angelevo@feddit.nl on 27 Jan 19:49 collapse

That is nice for those who have been accused of having room temperature IQs in freedom units though.

Honytawk@feddit.nl on 27 Jan 14:42 next collapse

Damn, everything above body heat (37°C) is bad for your body.

nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 27 Jan 18:14 collapse

it kind of sucks living in a part of the world that requires you to sit in air conditioned bubbles all day. it’s a fucking depressing way to live.