As our Abrupt Climate Change Catastrophe becomes more extreme the leading cause of death on the planet will be humans hitting their Wet Bulb Temperature.
“It has been widely believed that a 35°C wet-bulb temperature (equal to 95°F at 100% humidity or 115°F at 50% humidity) was the maximum a human could endure before they could no longer adequately regulate their body temperature, which would potentially cause heat stroke or death over a prolonged exposure.”
“Wet-bulb temperature is read by a thermometer with a wet wick over its bulb and is affected by humidity and air movement. It represents a humid temperature at which the air is saturated and holds as much moisture as it can in the form of water vapor; a person’s sweat will not evaporate at that skin temperature.”
“But in their new study, the researchers found that the actual maximum wet-bulb temperature is lower — about 31°C wet-bulb or 87°F at 100% humidity — even for young, healthy subjects. The temperature for older populations, who are more vulnerable to heat, is likely even lower.”
Humans can’t endure temperatures and humiditie’s as high and previously thought”
Short cut to calculating Wet Bulb Temperature
“In a recent study with Matt Huber, we showed that it doesn’t take that many degrees of global warming to permit peak heat summertime heat stress to (occasionally) become unsurvivable, in many parts of the world that are currently highly populated.”
“We came to this conclusion by considering a meteorological quantity called the wet-bulb temperature. You measure this quantity with a normal thermometer that has a damp cloth covering the bulb. It is always lower than the usual or “dry-bulb” temperature; how much lower depends on the humidity. At 100% humidity (in a cloud or fog) they match. In Sydney and Melbourne, even during the hottest weather, the wet-bulb usually peaks in the low 20’s C. The highest values in the world are about 30-31C, during the worst heat/humidity events in India, the Amazon, and a few other very humid places.
Climate Change Research Centre (CCRC) – The University of New South Wales Sydney NSW Australia, paper shared here: ‘What is Wet Bulb temperature?‘
Orange – Heat stroke probable, Red – Heat stroke imminent
Science Snippets: The Heat Is On
I'm an anti-imperialist, environmental activist and blue ocean sailor, who is passionate about the earth and all it's inhabitants without favour. Brace for imminent impact as we bare witness to the non-linear unraveling of the biosphere and habitability disappearing for most if not all complex life on the only habitable planet we know of. To quote President Niinistö in North Russia: ‘If We Lose the Arctic, We Lose the World’. Folks we have lost the Arctic.
‘Worst on record’: Brutal summer heat wave killed more than 50,000 in Europe’s cities
“Europe is the fastest-warming continent and extreme heat, the deadliest form of extreme weather, is already becoming unbearable. Unprecedented high temperatures scorched the continent from late May until the end of August this year”.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/climate/worst-on-record-brutal-summer-heat-wave-killed-more-than-50000-in-europes-cities/1950264?utm_term=cat-editorial,cnn,climate,international,europe,heat%20wave,deaths,casualties,record%20breaking&utm_medium=push&utm_source=pushly&utm_content=207922724&utm_campaign=pushly_manual&country_code=NZ&partner=push_pushly&default_language=en-NZ
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