‘Unbearable’ heat in Delhi is testing limits of human survival
‘Unbearable’ heat in Delhi is testing limits of human survival
Note that there are two common "wet bulb" temperatures used in discussion:
- Wet Bulb Globe Temperature - this tells you that physical activity (including work) in unshaded locations can kill healthy adults and is used in this article
- Wet Bulb Temperature - this tells you whether it is hot enough to kill the bulk of the population for just sitting still in the shade with access to plenty of water
A Washington Post analysis found that the wet-bulb globe temperature, which measures the amount of heat stress on the human body, reached 97 degrees to 100 degrees (36 to 38 Celsius) in Delhi on Tuesday. That is higher than the 89.6 Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) threshold that researchers have identified as posing a risk to human survival if such heat is prolonged. The wet-bulb globe temperature is based on a combination of factors including temperature, humidity, wind and clouds, and was calculated by The Post using data from a nearby weather station.
What's horrible is what the hell are we going to do? We can't evacuate 2 billion people out of the Indian subcontinent.
We need the rich to accept making less money, worldwide.
That's really it.
We can probably slow the rate of increase and even begin to reverse it, but we need to convince the rich that they need to accept making less money.
I guess i'll die
-India, probably
what the hell are we going to do?
In the very long term, stop climate change.
In the long term - dig in and design heat shelters, most likely. Because it's cooler underground and heat waves will pass. When a bad one comes, people would stop working and find shelter from it. One can even accumulate cold in a thermal store during cool periods and distribute the cooling effect to premises during heat waves.
In the short term - those who can (there will be an equality and access problem) and those who must (who cannot stop working) would install air conditioners and similar stuff.
Nothing and they are going to die. That was the plan all along.
That is the opening chapter of Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Ministry For The Future". Scary how fast that became real...
It hasn't happened this time, but all it takes is a heat dome to persist for a few hours or days with 10-20% higher humidity &/or temp and BAM... thousands to millions dead. Once evaporative cooling reverses and you start absorbing heat from the atmosphere it's only a matter of time. So maybe the next El Nino, or the one after; possibly in between, but less likely.
The embellishment with the ministry for the future is the first wet bulb event was extreme, when in reality they're most likely to start smaller and less intense — only killing thousands — not reaching those types of extremes until we're at 2-3c (in decades). The resilience of the bioshpere, and slow crawl of climate change, is what is ultimately leading to our undoing.