Why summer is so hot?

Discussion in 'Earth Science' started by Saint, Jun 25, 2021.

  1. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    Come on Man, you know billvon better than that.

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  3. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    Yeah. I realised my mistake, but by that time most of my post was already written, so I thought I'd post it anyway.
     
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  5. iceaura Valued Senior Member

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    Somewhere in here, this being a science forum, and now as good a time as any, somebody humorless (Poe's Law) should mention the overriding significance to human beings of the wet bulb air temperature rather than the absolute or Kelvin scale based air temperature. As AGW accelerates, that people mostly live in lowlands near coasts and rivers and marshes will amplify the direct heat effects.

    Last time I checked, in high enough humidity wet bulb lethality starts kicking in around 88F for people in ordinary good health. Has anyone seen a detailed media handling of that factor in the reports of the heat wave from Portland or Seattle ?

    Plants are also vulnerable to wet bulb temps, enough (along with water loss) that many plants even in temperate and well-watered regions have adaptations for dumping heat besides evaporation - leaf shape and behavior, etc. The only media reports I've seen deal with the trees in the NW heat waves focused on fire. Anyone see anything more thorough on TV?
     
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  7. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Yes. It places tremendous stress on humans, and people will start to drop dead.

    95F is a pretty special number, though, because it's based in physics. At that wet bulb there is not enough temperature differential to allow humans to shed heat. It is not that it places stress upon people, and they might suffer heatstroke or a heart attack. It's that they cannot cool themselves, and their bodies will continue rising in temperature until they die.
     
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