4 ms·

Your 40C doesn't equal my 40C when one country has high humidity, and the other has close to zero. That's precisely what the "wet bulb temperature" for humans

Your 40C doesn't equal my 40C when one country has high humidity, and the other has close to zero. That's precisely what the "wet bulb temperature" for humans is all about. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature

saiya-jin 4y ago
People ie in south Iran or maybe also Pakistan have very high temperatures and high humidity at the same time and they are still living there. I can imagine it has big impact on productivity of anybody not under 24h AC, but there is still construction, roadwork, maintenance etc. work done. I guess a mix of adaptation from birth plus suffering through work thats just harder than elsewhere, but still possible.
- wongarsu 4y ago
  Also schedule adaptations and building styles. It's not like high wet-bulb temperatures instantly kill you, it's the accumulation of heat in your body you can't get rid of fast enough. So you can go out for short times to move between buildings that either have AC or are built to stay cool enough (reflective roof and enough thermal mass to keep temperatures manageable during the day). Anything that requires you to be outside for extended times can just be done during colder parts of the day, or even in colder seasons. As things get hotter places like Iran and Pakistan can adapt with more AC. The problems will be worse for places without electricity grids and a population that is too poor for alternative means like running AC from solar.
- mrits 4y ago
  My house is currently getting remodeled in Austin where it has been over 100F the last few weeks. They don't have electricity, so not even fans. I asked them how they handle it and they said "you get used to it".
  - eesmith 4y ago
    According to weather.com, the predicted humidity for when it will be 100F in Austin next, is only around 50-55%, giving a wet bulb temperature of around 30°C, which is below the 31°C from this study.
    - ip26 4y ago
      Further context: At that humidity level, Austin would reach the 35°C threshold at 110°F.
    - mrits 4y ago
      Our mornings are very humid, often +80%. It tends to burnout late afternoon making hotter evenings actually more bearable than cooler early mornings IMO.
      - happyraul 4y ago
        The same amount of water in the air at a lower temperature is more humid than at a higher temperature. So as temperature rises, relative humidity tends to go down. Which is why air can feel so dry inside in winter.
LorenPechtel 4y ago
This. I frequently go out into 40C around here (desert)--hazardous only if you run out of water. In high humidity it's deadly.

saiya-jin 4y ago

People ie in south Iran or maybe also Pakistan have very high temperatures and high humidity at the same time and they are still living there. I can imagine it has big impact on productivity of anybody not under 24h AC, but there is still construction, roadwork, maintenance etc. work done. I guess a mix of adaptation from birth plus suffering through work thats just harder than elsewhere, but still possible.

wongarsu 4y ago
Also schedule adaptations and building styles. It's not like high wet-bulb temperatures instantly kill you, it's the accumulation of heat in your body you can't get rid of fast enough. So you can go out for short times to move between buildings that either have AC or are built to stay cool enough (reflective roof and enough thermal mass to keep temperatures manageable during the day). Anything that requires you to be outside for extended times can just be done during colder parts of the day, or even in colder seasons. As things get hotter places like Iran and Pakistan can adapt with more AC. The problems will be worse for places without electricity grids and a population that is too poor for alternative means like running AC from solar.
mrits 4y ago
My house is currently getting remodeled in Austin where it has been over 100F the last few weeks. They don't have electricity, so not even fans. I asked them how they handle it and they said "you get used to it".
- eesmith 4y ago
  According to weather.com, the predicted humidity for when it will be 100F in Austin next, is only around 50-55%, giving a wet bulb temperature of around 30°C, which is below the 31°C from this study.
  - ip26 4y ago
    Further context: At that humidity level, Austin would reach the 35°C threshold at 110°F.
  - mrits 4y ago
    Our mornings are very humid, often +80%. It tends to burnout late afternoon making hotter evenings actually more bearable than cooler early mornings IMO.
    - happyraul 4y ago
      The same amount of water in the air at a lower temperature is more humid than at a higher temperature. So as temperature rises, relative humidity tends to go down. Which is why air can feel so dry inside in winter.

LorenPechtel 4y ago

This. I frequently go out into 40C around here (desert)--hazardous only if you run out of water. In high humidity it's deadly.