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It seems you’ve never been in a sunny climate without aircon. People survive. It’s not crazy hard. Growing up in Australia, with temps regularly over 40, and th

It seems you’ve never been in a sunny climate without aircon. People survive. It’s not crazy hard. Growing up in Australia, with temps regularly over 40, and the only aircon in the supermarket frozen section.

tharkun__ 5y ago
I have indeed been in a sunny climate without aircon. Sunny and humid in most summers. That's why we installed the AC. When it's just hot it's fine. You just go outside and in the shade or dip in the pool. When it's sunny and humid or it starts raining and you hope for a nice cooling downpour and then the rain just stops and it's even muggier than before you crawl inside and turn the AC up. EDIT: and by turn up I don't mean freezer tenps. I hate that. We use it mainly to get rid of the humidity but that's how ACs cool anyway so temp goes down too.
- seb1204 5y ago
  I loved the humidity in Dubai... Some days. Preferences differ.
  - tharkun__ 5y ago
    Dubai was weird. I don't remember humidity being an issue there to be honest. Was only there for 3 days or so though. I vividly remember freezing on the bus though. Being outside was better. What I also vividly remember was the beach. Totally different beach experience than anything else I've had before or after. It was really weird when I walked into the ocean and the water wasn't actually feeling colder than air around me. It was just suddenly wet around you but not cold ;)
    - gruez 5y ago
      >It was really weird when I walked into the ocean and the water wasn't actually feeling colder than air around me. It was just suddenly wet around you but not cold ;) So... a hot tub?
- taylodl 5y ago
  Sounds like we're employing the same strategy. I'm not a big fan of AC overall, but OMG the humidity can be stifling. I have my thermostat set to 79F, sometimes I'll even raise it to 80F or 81F. I'm not looking for cool so much as I'm looking for not muggy. There have been days when the humidity is 68% or more but it's only 77F and it gets uncomfortable. Crank the AC down to 76F and it takes care of that humidity. Do you know if they make thermostats that put a priority on reducing humidity rather than just reducing temperature (for AC)? I mean 84F can feel great if it's not humid.
ekianjo 5y ago
> It seems you’ve never been in a sunny climate without aircon In Japan, in summer, you don't survive without aircon. 35 C with 90+% humidity, fans and opening windows won't help you anymore. Australia has dry summers in comparison, which is really easy to withstand
- fredsir 5y ago
  > In Japan, in summer, you don't survive without aircon. 35 C with 90+% humidity, fans and opening windows won't help you anymore. How did people survive until the widespread use of AC?
  - andy_ppp 5y ago
    Japanese people are adapted to their environment and barely sweat, it makes you feel pretty gross as a westerner there with all these Salary Men in black suits and ties looking crisp while you’ve sweated through your shorts and t-shirt…
    - barry-cotter 5y ago
      It happens to you too if you live there long enough. Likewise if you spend a lot of time outside in the cold you too can walk around in shorts and sandals in freezing temperatures with no ill effects (as long as it’s dry with low winds)
      - rocknor 5y ago
        I wish more people understood this. No, 35°C is not "too hot", 90% RH is not "too humid" and 10°C is not "too cold", your body is just not adapted to it yet like the locals.
        tharkun__ 5y ago
        35C or over is not too hot, if it's dry enough that the body can regulate its own body temperature. Even 100% RH is not a problem if it's cold enough. 10C is definitely not too cold and much much colder temps are totally fine if you are bundled up. The problem apparently becomes high relative humidity paired with temperatures that are too high for the human body to cool itself. We all know what happens if you get a fever that's too high (i.e. body temp goes way up): you die! Wet-bulb temperature is a measure of heat and humidity that expresses how human bodies will experience the temperature. It is so named because it is calculated by wrapping the bulb of a thermometer in a wet cloth. In low humidity, water will evaporate from the cloth, carrying away heat and cooling the thermometer in the same way sweat cools the human body. In these conditions, the wet-bulb temperature will be lower than the air temperature. In high humidity — when the air is more saturated with water vapor — the water cannot evaporate as easily so the cloth stays hot. If the wet cloth cannot cool below the air temperature, neither can human skin. Humans being humans, we invented stuff to help us both be more comfortable because many of these conditions are still uncomfortable, even if they don't kill you and to not die even if the conditions are made for it (easiest example being: it's -40C outside, yes without bundling up a lot you will also be able to die from this. I.e. in dry climates, have passive evaporative coolers (if you have enough water supply), preferably in houses that have good airflow and are painted white instead of having black tar roofing (think the old white houses built in spain for example). The modern humans use AC in most places now. Which does come with its own problems.
jgilias 5y ago
I wonder why do people assume that going forward heatwave intensity will stop before reaching the survivability threshold. It doesn't take too much, you just need an event where wet-bulb temperature persists over 35 Celsius to have healthy humans start dropping like flies en masse. If they don't have access to cooled premises, that is.

tharkun__ 5y ago

I have indeed been in a sunny climate without aircon. Sunny and humid in most summers. That's why we installed the AC. When it's just hot it's fine. You just go outside and in the shade or dip in the pool. When it's sunny and humid or it starts raining and you hope for a nice cooling downpour and then the rain just stops and it's even muggier than before you crawl inside and turn the AC up. EDIT: and by turn up I don't mean freezer tenps. I hate that. We use it mainly to get rid of the humidity but that's how ACs cool anyway so temp goes down too.

seb1204 5y ago
I loved the humidity in Dubai... Some days. Preferences differ.
- tharkun__ 5y ago
  Dubai was weird. I don't remember humidity being an issue there to be honest. Was only there for 3 days or so though. I vividly remember freezing on the bus though. Being outside was better. What I also vividly remember was the beach. Totally different beach experience than anything else I've had before or after. It was really weird when I walked into the ocean and the water wasn't actually feeling colder than air around me. It was just suddenly wet around you but not cold ;)
  - gruez 5y ago
    >It was really weird when I walked into the ocean and the water wasn't actually feeling colder than air around me. It was just suddenly wet around you but not cold ;) So... a hot tub?
taylodl 5y ago
Sounds like we're employing the same strategy. I'm not a big fan of AC overall, but OMG the humidity can be stifling. I have my thermostat set to 79F, sometimes I'll even raise it to 80F or 81F. I'm not looking for cool so much as I'm looking for not muggy. There have been days when the humidity is 68% or more but it's only 77F and it gets uncomfortable. Crank the AC down to 76F and it takes care of that humidity. Do you know if they make thermostats that put a priority on reducing humidity rather than just reducing temperature (for AC)? I mean 84F can feel great if it's not humid.

ekianjo 5y ago

> It seems you’ve never been in a sunny climate without aircon In Japan, in summer, you don't survive without aircon. 35 C with 90+% humidity, fans and opening windows won't help you anymore. Australia has dry summers in comparison, which is really easy to withstand

fredsir 5y ago
> In Japan, in summer, you don't survive without aircon. 35 C with 90+% humidity, fans and opening windows won't help you anymore. How did people survive until the widespread use of AC?
- andy_ppp 5y ago
  Japanese people are adapted to their environment and barely sweat, it makes you feel pretty gross as a westerner there with all these Salary Men in black suits and ties looking crisp while you’ve sweated through your shorts and t-shirt…
  - barry-cotter 5y ago
    It happens to you too if you live there long enough. Likewise if you spend a lot of time outside in the cold you too can walk around in shorts and sandals in freezing temperatures with no ill effects (as long as it’s dry with low winds)
    - rocknor 5y ago
      I wish more people understood this. No, 35°C is not "too hot", 90% RH is not "too humid" and 10°C is not "too cold", your body is just not adapted to it yet like the locals.
      - tharkun__ 5y ago
        35C or over is not too hot, if it's dry enough that the body can regulate its own body temperature. Even 100% RH is not a problem if it's cold enough. 10C is definitely not too cold and much much colder temps are totally fine if you are bundled up. The problem apparently becomes high relative humidity paired with temperatures that are too high for the human body to cool itself. We all know what happens if you get a fever that's too high (i.e. body temp goes way up): you die! Wet-bulb temperature is a measure of heat and humidity that expresses how human bodies will experience the temperature. It is so named because it is calculated by wrapping the bulb of a thermometer in a wet cloth. In low humidity, water will evaporate from the cloth, carrying away heat and cooling the thermometer in the same way sweat cools the human body. In these conditions, the wet-bulb temperature will be lower than the air temperature. In high humidity — when the air is more saturated with water vapor — the water cannot evaporate as easily so the cloth stays hot. If the wet cloth cannot cool below the air temperature, neither can human skin. Humans being humans, we invented stuff to help us both be more comfortable because many of these conditions are still uncomfortable, even if they don't kill you and to not die even if the conditions are made for it (easiest example being: it's -40C outside, yes without bundling up a lot you will also be able to die from this. I.e. in dry climates, have passive evaporative coolers (if you have enough water supply), preferably in houses that have good airflow and are painted white instead of having black tar roofing (think the old white houses built in spain for example). The modern humans use AC in most places now. Which does come with its own problems.

jgilias 5y ago

I wonder why do people assume that going forward heatwave intensity will stop before reaching the survivability threshold. It doesn't take too much, you just need an event where wet-bulb temperature persists over 35 Celsius to have healthy humans start dropping like flies en masse. If they don't have access to cooled premises, that is.