'Twenty die' in Pakistan heat wave (Temps pf 120+ Fahrenheit!)

[Whoa_Nelly]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4751945.stm

Officials in Pakistan say at least 20 people have died in a sweltering heat wave over the past two days.
Health officials said most of the deaths, mainly in central Pakistan, were caused by dehydration, sunstroke and diarrhoea.

Officials have been advising people not to work in the sun and to increase consumption of water.

The Meteorological Department says temperatures have shot up across Pakistan, reaching 49C in recent days.

a little more at link

Holy Moley! Over 49C = 120+ F
Global Warming? This is just horrible!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. been there...

I was in Phoenix in 1989 for the record temps... over 120 for 10-15 days straight. I was 8months pregnant. It was hell.

[cliss]

3. Wow, that's horrific.

I can't even imagine being in 120 degrees. I just looked at my oven, and the lowest setting on the thing is 150 degrees. That's not that much less than the oven.

We're talking about baking things.

This is really bad.

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. Now imagine living in a country where you don't have A/C

Have lived in AZ several times, most recently a year ago. I cannot even imagine not having an insulated home, no A/C, and little other resources.

I also lived in central CA in 1971 when there were temps of +/- 120 for almost two weeks. The streets were literally melting. I was a teen living on my own in a place that just had a window swamp cooler...utter misery.

I saw this story on CNN earlier. Scores of people were in a river just trying to keep cool.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. we didn't have AC

we had an old clunking swamp cooler, but since humidity was 100% (They LIE when they say it's a 'dry heat')and the water coming out of the ground was 80degrees, we turned the damn thing off. It was doing nothing but sucking up electricity. I spent my days in the shade of a building (no trees around big enough for shade), draped in a wet bedsheet. We lost several people that year, at least 6 died (that I remember).

Ya know the old fry an egg on the sidewalk trick? We did that, it took less than 3 minutes to cook solid.

[BootinUp]

7. Thats hard to believe

100% humidity in Phoenix in the summer? :wow:

I used to stay with friends there in the summer, don't remember it being very humid, just hot as hell.

on edit:
"How High Does the Humidity Get in the Summer in Phoenix?
When it is 100° or higher, the highest humidity level for the past hundred years was 45%. Usually, it's significantly lower than that."

http://phoenix.about.com/library/blheatindex.htm

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. I just asked my ex too, he said

40-50%

Okay, I SWEAR it FELT like 100%!!

my faulty memory is beginning to worry me. :oldladysmilie:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. On maneuvers at Twenty-Nine Palms in 1979-1980.....

...but only in the Spring and Fall. One of the guys fried an egg on the side of a personnel carrier just to prove it could be done. Temperature hit an average of about 100-110 degrees F during those periods of time.

I had previously driven through Death Valley in the summer of 1978...blazing hot, probably 120-125 degrees F. Had my arm hanging out the window while driving, and it got sunburned pretty badly.

When I was about 12 my family drove across the southern California desert...120 in the shade.

But Pakistan at 120-125 degrees F? That's pretty extreme even for that location and altitude.

[lovuian]

2. Its horrible and they have no power and no airconditioning

Global Warming is cooking us...

[Squatch]

4. Ummm...central Pakistan is a DESERT

you know...places that are prone to high temperatures.

[951-Riverside]

8. You forgot to add a *smirk* and two *shrugs*

:D

[JCMach1]

11. The heat has come early this year. It is over 100 ever day now

here in the UAE... A few days have already been pushing 40-45 cent.