• ThisMachinePostsHog [they/them, he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I've never heard the term wet bulb before this post, and I feel like I'm not smart enough to understand the implications other than things are getting too hot and humid for people to survive.

    • SnackClip [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      "It's a dry heat" is a real thing, the dryness lets you cool by sweating. If it is a wet heat ur dead

    • fox [comrade/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      The wet bulb point is the temperature + humidity when sweating no longer cools you down. Since sweating is how we avoid heat stroke this is bad.

      • ThisMachinePostsHog [they/them, he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        So is wet bulb temperature specifically the cutoff point where humans can survive? Or does it just refer to any temperature with 100% humidity? (Like, today's temperature is going to be 75 degrees with 100 percent humidity, for example) I hope that question makes sense.

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      The worry is that a densely populated area, usually Bangladesh is where people are worried about, is going to get at or close to the wet bulb temperature for a long period of time. And if it's hot and damp enough, and it lasts long enough, then the theory goes that everyone without access to AC will eventually die. Like entire cities, entire provinces kind of thing. The less developed an area is the more vulnerable it is because it will have less access to AC and refrigeration. Old people die first because they're much more vulnerable to heat stress. But young people will die en masse too if it's bad enough for long enough.

      • ThisMachinePostsHog [they/them, he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        That's absolutely horrifying. I'm assuming that it's some naïve, lib part of me that wants to ask if this is 💯 percent inevitable. But we're not going to be making any progress on combating climate change. Not with the course we're on now.