Slashdot Mirror
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.
You know you live in the wrong place when you're looking forward to one horrific weather pattern to replace another.
The monsoons are not horrific. They are a normal part of the annual weather cycle. Complaining about monsoons in India is as silly as complaining about snow in Minnesota. Far more horrific, is when the monsoons are weak, which has historically led to famine.
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!
India's per capita income is around $2000/yr. If you go to any country with this level of per capita income, you will realize that India beats all of them in terms of quality of life. The 1100 death may be higher, but when adjusted for population it is paltry in terms of death tolls in Russia and France during extreme summers just few years ago. This is despite the fact that they are high latitude and the heat wave was less extreme. In fact, Indians are managing quite well under the circumstances.