For the first time, humans were exposed to a deadly combination of heat and humidity. Here's how long they lasted

www.abc.net.au For the first time, humans were exposed to a deadly combination of heat and humidity. Here's how long they lasted

Heatwaves loom as a growing threat to humanity in a warming climate. This summer alone, in the northern hemisphere, thousands have died during extreme heat events. It's driving researchers to find out more about the point when heat turns deadly.

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For the first time, humans were exposed to a deadly combination of heat and humidity.

www.abc.net.au /news/2024-09-02/deadly-heat-limits-tested-in-world-first-human-experiment/104242788

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For the first time, humans were exposed to a deadly combination of heat and humidity. Here's how long they lasted - ABC News

www.abc.net.au /news/2024-09-02/deadly-heat-limits-tested-in-world-first-human-experiment/104242788

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13 comments

Meanwhile, DeSantis removed outdoor worker protections in a state that has had wet bulb temperatures above 35°C (95°F).
- Similar in Texas, though the whole state isn't near as humid as Florida.
  
  High humidity is what creates a higher wet bulb temperature. A 95°F wet bulb temperature is achieved when it’s 95°F outside with 100% humidity. The lower the humidity, the higher the temperature needs to be to hit the 95°F wet bulb temperature.
  Wet bulb temperature matters most to animals with sweat glands, like humans. In higher humidity, it’s more difficult for our bodies to cool through sweat evaporation.

The "first time"? Maybe in a controlled environment, but certainly not the first time. People already die from heat exhaustion around the world.
Also, the deadly factor really seems to be time rather than heat and humidity. Saunas are 65-90c with very high humidity and those are generally fine as long as you don't stay in too long.
- Tell me that you haven't read it without telling me that you haven't read it
  Owen has been put into the climate chamber by Jem Cheng, a research fellow at the Heat and Health Research Centre at the University of Sydney.
  It’s part of a world-first study all about finding out at what point heat becomes deadly. Fifteen years ago, scientists proposed an environmental threshold at which no person would be able to survive for six hours.
  But these conditions have never been tested on humans.
  Until now.
  “This study is all about human survivability,” Dr Cheng says.
  “So we are the first to actually put people in these environments to actually see, physiologically, what is happening to their core temperature or to their heart rate.
  What this new model shows is, when you take into account the limitations of human physiology, these upper wet-bulb temperature limits look as though they are much lower under certain types of conditions.”
  
  I did read it. All of those conditions have been experienced by humans, just perhaps not in a lab controlled study.
  My problem is the clickbait headline. Its a bad headline.
  
  doesnt change the misleading title. i was in a sauna the first time at age 5 or 6. that can be pretty daedly

I misread lasted as tasted. I've never been curious about that.

I think I always forget what wet bulb is exactly because these events are relatively rare, geographically isolated, and don't last long enough to be the specific cause of death. We get lots of heat death but not (35C100%H) heat death. The article says that we won't see sustained wet bulb temps this century.
Interesting takeaway:
"“What this new model shows is, when you take into account the limitations of human physiology, these upper wet-bulb temperature limits look as though they are much lower under certain types of conditions.”

Since I can never remember what wet bulb is, this video does a good job explaining it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35Orkd9vzHQ

Sorry, nonsense
People have been dying from heat in droves since decades ago. I recall 10-20 years ago a heatwave that overflowed morgues in France.
Not saying that climate change isn't real or not disastrous, it is and so much more.
Just that this title is misleading at best
- There are examples of exceptional heatwaves like the one you're thinking about. The article is about testing people under controlled conditions to figure out exactly where the point that things go from 'healthy adults will be fine' to 'not just the sick, pregnant, young, and elderly suffer, but huge chunks of the population die'
- Those were heat waves, an infrequent hot period in the middle of otherwise normal weather. But now this is the new normal, this is what people are expected to live in and work under. That heat wave in France is now the everyday weather. That's why this matters and why you sound so insignificant.

13 comments