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.
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!
With ALL the billions the US spends on the "war machine", you think we could airlift some water, or Gatorade to help with this bad situation. I have never been to India, but if I had the money, I would surely go.
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.
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All I can say is that's a good start. I can't understand anyone at work anymore because Americans are all being replaced with Indians... and the smell! OH man!
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!
Less of those stupid shitstains brown terrists taking good ole american IT jobs!
U S A U S A
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
Did they try calling tech support for their air conditioners? 104 seems high.
No matter how say I'm packing DYING. EVERYONE sIhower Don't just
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.
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?
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...
They have not been able to climb out of the cesspool they live in and they continue to
breed like rats despite this. I'd personally enjoy seeing a pandemic wipe out 95% of their
population. Maybe then they'd learn to value basic concepts like hygiene.
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!
Drink Potassium Citrate syrup
Casteism