Hungary heatwave kills hundreds

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: BBC

About 500 people died in the past week from a heatwave in Hungary, one of the country's top health officials says.

Anna Paldy, deputy director of the National Institute of Environmental Health, told the BBC that the figure included 230 deaths in central Hungary.

The deaths - from 15 to 22 July - were caused by heatstroke, cardiovascular problems and other illnesses aggravated by the heat, she said.

Some 30 people have also died in the heatwave in neighbouring Romania.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6914490.stm

[tridim]

1. Vote Gore for President of Earth. nt

[Acadia Blue]

2. This is a very large number of people! Was it on national news?

[Systematic Chaos]

3. No. Paris Hilton wasn't over there visiting.

:shrug:

[Uncle Joe]

4. Thanks for the thread eppur_se_muova

Kicked and recommended.

[Recursion]

5. Seriously, what's up in Europe?

I grew up in Mississippi. Every summer the temperature got over 110 for a few days and the humidity was up at about 110% too. We had some people die but I'm talking 10 or 12, and since Mississippi has about 1/5th the population of Hungary that comes out to 50 or 60 deaths. And France has hundreds or even thousands of people die in heat waves. WTF is it? Is it that they have no AC over there? That people aren't acclimatized to heat? It just seems incredible to hear about hundreds or even thousands of people dying in heat waves.

[Gin]

6. My daughter lives in Germany and there is no AC.

g

[Recursion]

7. I've only been there in winter

So I guess I hadn't noticed. Well, I was in Switzerland one summer but it was way up high and we didn't need AC, so I didn't think about it.

[silverojo]

9. Sounds like those folks are just trying to commit suicide

Even if you don't have central A/C, it's not that hard to put in a window air conditioner. Maybe if people would have enough sense to demand them, companies in those areas would supply them.

And they say AMERICANS are stupid?

[Louie the XIV]

10. It's time Europe comes into the 21st Century and starts adopting useful American invention called AC

I'm alway curious why those standard of living indexes never include availability of AC. Spending 3 months a year in 90+ degree temperatures with high humidity and no air conditioning is not a high standard of living even if your stay in the hospital for heat stroke and exhaustion is free.

[NickB79]

11. Do you see the comedy in the "just put in an AC unit" statement?

Using electricity to run appliances usually releases CO2 from the burning of coal and natural gas.

This human-released CO2 causes global temperatures to rise.

These temperature increases cause heat waves, such as several we've seen in Europe in the past decade.

The solution? Install an AC unit and use MORE electricity, which will release MORE CO2, which will cause MORE global warming, which will dictate MORE AC units, etc, etc, etc......

:crazy:

[Louie the XIV]

13. Global warming is not the issue, quality of living is

it is already hot in Europe and thousands of people are dying almost every summer from the heat. If every building in Europe had AC tomorrow how much would the temperature rise? .1 degree at most maybe.

You're right that air conditioning does burn fossil fuels but the fact of the matter is that it is already too hot there to be living without air conditioning. Thousands of people should not be dying in developed countries in temperate climates just because it gets to be 95-100, this is a catastrophe even larger than Katrina.

[NickB79]

14. That's an interesting answer

"Global warming is not the issue, quality of living is"

Global warming is the reason that their decline in quality of life is occurring. Global warming is very much the issue right now.

"If every building in Europe had AC tomorrow how much would the temperature rise? .1 degree at most maybe."

Let me guess, you don't think a 0.1 degree (Fahrenheit or Celsius?) increase on a global scale is significant, right?

"You're right that air conditioning does burn fossil fuels but the fact of the matter is that it is already too hot there to be living without air conditioning."

Spending the grandkid's inheritance, yes indeed.

[Skittles]

16. I am with ya Nick

an astounding amount of ignorance to go around

[Louie the XIV]

19. Countries such as France get the vast majority of their electricity from nuclear power

in fact France has excess power that they sell to neighbors. Building of air conditioners there would not necessitate the burning of any more fossil fuels.

Would you still be opposed to saving lives in that case?

[NickB79]

20. Nope, not at all

I am a strong proponent of nuclear power, wind power, hydroelectric, basically anything that doesn't release CO2. France is a shining example of what nations could do. What worries me, though, is that many nations will invariably resort to coal instead. Germany, for example, has plans to close their nuclear plants to satisfy public opinion, and replace them with 26 new coal-burning plants.

[VLC]

18. AC is not the only answer

There are ways of building and adapting houses to keep it cool inside. Basements are cool. There are ceiling fans and windows and box fans and swimming pools and shade trees and dozens of other ways to keep cool that don't require AC.

It is perfectly possible to live in 100 degrees without AC. I know because I've been doing it all my adult life. Yes, some days are hard, and no one should die because of it, but AC is not the only answer, and it's generally not the best answer either.

[Skittles]

15. WTF are you talking about???

do you recall this happened in Chicago not that long ago?

[donsu]

17. ACs are part of the problem of global warming

THINK!

[kineneb]

8. no AC, not acclimatized

many of the deaths are the fragile elderly, who often inhabit older buildings... "older" sometimes meaning 400 yrs old... buildings not designed with good airflow in mind...

When I was in Brussels, I was looking for the big musical instrument museum there. The person giving me directions said "It is right next to the new building." Turns out the "new" building was built in the 1890s... a different definition of "new"...

[Posteritatis]

12. How would Mississippi handle a prolonged -40 cold snap? (nt)

[Swede]

21. It hit 39 degress Celsius up here in Canada.

Damn that's hot.