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Heat Wave Kills More Than 1,100 In India
An anonymous reader sends word that a week-long heat wave in India has resulted in the deaths of more than 1,100 people. Temperatures reached 47C (117F) on Monday and are expected to stay dangerously high throughout the week. The heat and extreme dryness are being accompanied by strong westerly winds. "About one-third of the country's 1.2 billion people have access to electricity, meaning millions are enduring the blistering heat without relief." The local power grid has been struggling under high demand from fans and air conditioning. In some states, citizens are being advised to stay indoors during the middle of the day, when the sun is at its peak. Many hope the upcoming monsoons will return temperatues to less dangerous levels.
Well at least it is a dry heat.
"Many hope the upcoming monsoons will return temperatues to less dangerous levels. "
Right, not like the monsoons won't kill anyone and cause problems of their own....
Be careful what you wish for....
Comparison to India's military and space spending starting in 3 .. 2.. 1..
Isn't that the weather pattern of some cities in the US southwest such as Phoenix? The dry air actually seems to moderate the high temperature somewhat, at least at night.
Of course, during the day, everyone is indoors with the AC maxed out.
Slashdot-specific:
Heat Wave in India kills 9,1666666666666666666666666666667e-5% of its population.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
i visited bangalore in 2006, to see a friend living there. he explained that when the trees were cut down in the cities (so that more housing could be built), temperatures soared by an additional 10 *centigrade*. so, the ambient temperature surrounding the cities would be 45 degrees, but in bangalore it would reach *fifty five* centigrade. the point of mentioning this is that it's a much more direct version of how man has an effect on his immediate environment. change the landscape, you change the weather, it's as simple as that. we can learn from that... or simply die. it's our choice.
Last summer people died in the UK when it hit 90 degrees F, and people die in the summer in the US all the time. What are those numbers, normalized by population?
During major U.S. heat waves we typically get a similar number of deaths, and that's with about 1/3 the population. There are quite a few places in the world that get worse heat without heat waves. The worst two I've visited were Kuwait and Qatar, both read 140F/60C on thermometers in the shade (placement/calibration technically didn't meet weather station standards, so no "world record", but that is still the temperature people were subjected to). Qatar was worse though, the humidity was borderline condensing (some surfaces were damp with not a cloud in the sky); I'm glad I didn't have to stay there any longer than one day!
Minus: You failed to use an obscure unit of measurement. I propose Congresses. This heat wave has killed 2.056 Congresses of people.
Plus: You used a decimal comma instead of a decimal point, allowing people to respond saying that you're adhering to a regionally specific custom that differs from their own regionally specific custom, and therefore are clearly doing it wrong.
Overall i rate your slashdotness at 77.3%, by means of an obscure personal rating system which i can't describe succinctly but will argue about endlessly if anyone disagrees with my conclusion.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
airlift some water
That's very expensive and only makes sense for a limited time under certain circumstances (e.g., local potable water systems destroyed). I doubt these circumstances fit the criteria. Sports drinks are probably not in short supply there either. OTOH, setting up portable cooling centers using misters and pumps with the local water supply would make sense. I don't think they need the US to do it though.
Of course! After all, it's what plants crave!
airlift some water
That's very expensive and only makes sense for a limited time under certain circumstances (e.g., local potable water systems destroyed). I doubt these circumstances fit the criteria. Sports drinks are probably not in short supply there either. OTOH, setting up portable cooling centers using misters and pumps with the local water supply would make sense. I don't think they need the US to do it though.
Great ideas AC, I wonder if your ideas could be given to the Indian Gov., or local India business association. ")
We can't even fix the water problems in California.
India developed and built nuclear weapons and is planning a Mars mission and a spaceplane. Where the political will exists, India is capable of making the same kinds of investments into technology that the US does.
India just lacks the political will to invest in providing their citizens with water and electricity or reducing urban heat island effects.
The US doesn't need to airlift them anything. The Indian government can provide for its citizens but refuses to do so.
Heat waves have been killing hundreds to thousands annually in India for the last 3 decades - and most likely much longer (but reporting simply wasn't well done much further in the past). This isn't anything new, other than we finally hear about it. Living in extreme conditions, with poor sanitation and polluted and minimal water will kill.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
'airlift some water'
Well, that's about the dumbest thing I've read today.
Let's assume that 500,000,000 citizens are at risk in India.
Let's further assume that they would benefit from a mere 2 liters of water each, per day.
Water = 1kg per liter
747-400 MTOW - operating empty weight = ~215,000kg. So a 747 can lift 215,000 liters of water (assuming it actually fits inside)
To supply half a million people with 2 liters each, per day = 5,000 747 flights, every day.
airlift some water....right.
No wonder nobody is answering the phone at customer service.
In all seriousness, this is a shame, but why the fuck is it on Slashdot?
Just another day in Paradise
India developed and built nuclear weapons and is planning a Mars mission and a spaceplane. Where the political will exists, India is capable of making the same kinds of investments into technology that the US does.
India just lacks the political will to invest in providing their citizens with water and electricity or reducing urban heat island effects.
The US doesn't need to airlift them anything. The Indian government can provide for its citizens but refuses to do so.
I am aware of India's achievements, I just thought they had more of a will, and compassion to help their people.
Did they try calling tech support for their air conditioners? 104 seems high.
With all the money that India wastes in puerile pissing contests, you think they might instead devote that money to making the lives of hundreds of millions of Indian citizens less miserable.
That looks surprisingly realistic, even though it still doesn't make any sense. It's like a bigger scale Berlin airlift rather than something entirely ridiculous. Getting water from big airports and military airfields to the people is left as an exercise.
Of course, I made a typo in there...:)
"To supply half a million people with" = "To supply half a billion people with "
Berlin was one city, a couple of hundred miles away. Not 1/2 a country on the other side of the planet.
citizens are being advised to stay indoors
I thought only mad dogs and Englishmen went out in the mid day sun?
And 45C is not extreme for Delhi. It's like reaching 98F in New York City. It's hotter than usual, but you can expect it to happen once a year.
India has exactly what every other country in the world has: a political class. Politicians don't have to live in the same filth as the commons: they are busy competing on an international scale, as they always have. The ancient Greek political classes competed at the original Olympic games; modern politicians compete in technology and arms, or if they're very advanced, in space. They don't compete at water processing or supply, or food supply, or anything basic that could be fixed with adequate planning and investment in infrastructure. It's just not hard enough, and therefore not sexy enough.
It has electrolytes! You don't want water. Water comes from the toilet!
Not sure what your point is. Using the same source, the average number of deaths in India related to heat wave is 153/yr. Europe has a total population of 60% of India and in 2003, estimated 70,000 people died. Adjusting for population, this is an equivalent of what number of people will die in 700 years in India. So, are Europeans living in even worse conditions?
"rather than something entirely ridiculous"
Each 747 would have to fly more than 3.5 water flights per day, since there have only been 1500 made counting all variants. So you also need water sources no more than 3700 statute miles away.
As far as "realistic", 5,000 landings per day is the combined total of the 5 busiest airports on the planet.
So a 747 can lift 215,000 liters of water (assuming it actually fits inside)
Coincidentally, the 747-400 carries approximately that much fuel.
Thus we replace the fuel with water, and we can still have passengers to go to India where they can help with the heat problem. If we make those passengers drink up before boarding, they can be carrying extra water that will be easy to treat and filter.
You don't want to know what the captcha is.
vqvbgvp
The relative humidity is more like 60+%. There's no escape from the heat - the night time low is around 82 F - https://www.google.com/search?q=chennai+weather
Globally, cold weather kills 20 times more people than hot weather (study by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine).
In the UK, cold weather kills 25 times more people than hot weather.
So global warming, if it happens, is going to cause a significant decrease in net weather-related fatalities.
I experienced a week of 40-45C(actual) temps in SW Australia; It was a dry heat and didn't feel to bad at all. I had no AC, and was staying in a boat. I would say it felt the same or 'not as bad' as 29C in Florida(humid). We humans can regulate/cool our body temps pretty well in dry heat.. Just stay well hydrated and relax until its over...
Olay Olay Olay ...
What is the national beer of India?
Precisely. This is much ado about nothing. Not to minimize the deaths, but this happens quite often and isn't anything unusual. Europe's had more deaths from heat in the past...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
30% is low. Back in the 70s in I'll, I would work in temps of 105 with 60-90% humidity. That was humid. And yes, it sux.
In addition, in the winter, it hit -40f. Most of the time, we would have -30 through -35 for 2-3 weeks at a time.
But I was acclimated to it.
After 3 years of moving to Colorado, I went to visit a friend in IL, in the middle of winter when temps were -20 to -25f. I wore the same clothes that I used to ( good down jacket, etc.). AND like always, never a hat. I walked for 20 mins in that and nearly lost my ears for that. Ears were black and it was touch/go if they were to be removed.
The body can handle extremes, but it needs to acclimate to it. without that , it is a killer.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
And if you're sufficiently poor, you might not have the option to fix it.
If someone has finally saved up enough to move out of their parents house in their hometown
Many poor people live in multigenerational households because they have no way of saving up that much money.
We are talking about an extra $100 or $200 to get to a better place, on top of the $1000 or so they already saved to pay for security deposit and start up stuff.
That's sort of hard at the equivalent of $0.25 per hour.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Bangalore is 38.9 C (102 F) (recorded in March 1931).
Citation:http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/this-is-bangalores-hottest-march-in-15-years/article4564903.ece
"Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday son."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...
I thought everyone knew that? Kipling certainly did. (I think, but am not sure, that Coward stole it from him.)
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/q...
So the solutions might include (1) Plant more trees, and (2) Bring Broadway to Bangladesh.
The body is inefficient at dealing with heat very young or old.
Yikes, frostbite is awful. I hope you don't have pain from it! I'm a big fan of dry weather. Colorado's climate is so easy for me - the cold isn't as bad as humid sea level cold and the heat isn't as bad as humid sea level heat. I think the thinner air and generally low humidity make everything easier to take.
Man, you really need that seminar!
The non-negotiable dogma of reincarnation is precisely what reduces the value of life. Go see the Infinity Institute website. Its founder Rajiv Malhotra boasts about worshiping idols.
Drink Potassium Citrate syrup
Casteism