How hot is too hot for people to live? I mean, at what temperature is the heat

[raccoon]

a threat to the life of the average person?

[XemaSab]

1. Um... I don't know what you're asking?

:shrug:

[raccoon]

4. I edited for clarity. nt

[RebelOne]

2. Any temperature over 80 is too hot for me. n/t

[Blue_In_AK]

6. You should move to Alaska.

I had the same answer as you. :)

[Xithras]

8. That's funny.

Where I live, 80 degrees is seen as a nice spring or autumn day. We're supposed to be in the upper 70's today, and the weather guy was crowing this morning about how our weather is finally "getting cool" again.

I guess it's perspective. When you live in a place where 100-105 degree summer days are the norm, 80 seems like a relief. Apparently you live somewhere a bit cooler than I do :)

[FirstLight]

13. ya, and the cool side isn't fun either...

it dropped to 20-something last night here and we will be lucky to hit 50 this week :( I am NOT looking forward to winter!

If we think about climate change and danger, it's really both extremes that are not fun. Can't live in extreme heat without AC (geez, what did the egyptians do before then?...oh ya, they ran around practically nekkid!) And we can't live in extreme cold without heat and shelter.
I hate to say it, but personally I would welcome some tropical weather here year round, and if we end up in another ice age, i am *SO* not going to be happy!

[Uncle Joe]

3. That can vary with your age and health, the very young, old and infirm will become

vulnerable to succumbing to heat before those people in their prime.

Thanks for the thread, raccoon.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. For me....

anything over 80 degrees.

[hatrack]

7. Phys.org on wet-bulb temperatures, upper limits of human survivability

EDIT

Researchers for the first time have calculated the highest tolerable "wet-bulb" temperature and found that this temperature could be exceeded for the first time in human history in future climate scenarios if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate.

Wet-bulb temperature is equivalent to what is felt when wet skin is exposed to moving air. It includes temperature and atmospheric humidity and is measured by covering a standard thermometer bulb with a wetted cloth and fully ventilating it.

The researchers calculated that humans and most mammals, which have internal body temperatures near 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, will experience a potentially lethal level of heat stress at wet-bulb temperature above 95 degrees sustained for six hours or more, said Matthew Huber, the Purdue professor of earth and atmospheric sciences who co-authored the paper that will be published in Thursday's (May 6) issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Although areas of the world regularly see temperatures above 100 degrees, really high wet-bulb temperatures are rare," Huber said. "This is because the hottest areas normally have low humidity, like the 'dry heat' referred to in Arizona. When it is dry, we are able to cool our bodies through perspiration and can remain fairly comfortable. The highest wet-bulb temperatures ever recorded were in places like Saudi Arabia near the coast where winds occasionally bring extremely hot, humid ocean air over hot land leading to unbearably stifling conditions, which fortunately are short-lived today."

EDIT

http://www.physorg.com/news192206610.html

[bananas]

11. How about cats? nt

[dmallind]

9. Dew point matters more than absolute temp

Since that controls what you can de to cool down by seeking shade or sweating etc. About 95 degrees is all we can take for sustained periods. Beyond that AC is a must. Since some dew points can get past 90 already in sparsely inhabited regions like the Saudi interior, and since even the US has seen 90 (most people would never guess this but it was in Appleton WI) once, we don't have a huge amount of room. As long as we can power AC though, bets are off.

[RegieRocker]

10. 136° and your dead within minutes

[kestrel91316]

12. Speaking from personal experience, I consider anything over 110F dangerous,

and over 115F downright frightening.

And that's WITH at least some AC available to get out of the worst of the heat at times. If you have no AC at all, I don't think temps over 100F are survivable long-term.

[Codeine]

14. I lived in the inland California desert sans AC for years.

Temps in the summer in the 110 range some days. I did fine. You get used to it.

[izquierdista]

19. But you drink A LOT of water

I remember playing golf and tennis as a kid when it was 115 and more. I also remember being able to polish off a Big Gulp before I got home from the Circle K and then refilling it from the tap. At 120F and low humidity, humans need to drink about 2 gallons a day to cool themselves and stay hydrated.

[kestrel91316]

24. I've been here 28 years. I have never gotten used to it. I DO handle

temps of 90-100F better than I used to, but over 100F I still risk serious trouble. We can get humidity with our heat here.

[Codeine]

37. Yeah, I imagine Los Angeles proper is more humid than we are out here in the IE.

Once you're over the hills it gets drier.

[Xithras]

15. People live long, full lives in parts of the world where 120+ is a normal summer day

The average summertime daily temperature in Baghdad, a city with 7.2 million people and very few air conditioners, is 118 degrees, with occasional forays up near the 130 degree mark. In southern Libya, there's a town in the Sahara where the temp hits the low 130's nearly every summer. There are plenty of children, elderly, and ill people in both of those places, and thousands of others where high temps are the norm.

FWIW, it's mostly acclimatization. I live in an area where 100+ degree summer temps are the norm, as did most of my family. My younger sister grew up in the same temps, but moved to Oregon about 15 years ago. Her family came to visit us during a hot week this summer, and she acted like she was going to DIE. I was outside fixing a fence in 102 degree sunshine while they were inside my air conditioned house hiding from the heat. My kids tried to get their cousins to go outside and play, but the cousins refused...apparently they were terrified of the "dangerous" weather. One of them actually told my daughter, "You can DIE if you play outside when it's over 90!" My daughter, who has played outside in this weather every summer day of her life, couldn't help but laugh at that.

If they'd stayed more than two days, they'd have acclimatized and would have been fine with it. It's simply a matter of letting your body adjust.

[jwirr]

30. When I read the question I thought of the people in the African

continent. I think that when you have extreme temps you learn to live with them. You invent the siesta and work later in the evening after the sun goes down. You learn to drink as much water as you need. You learn to wear the appropriate clothing. There are other issues that high heat or drastic cold brings that can threaten life that are not going to be so easy to adjust to - crop failures, lack of water and such.

It is interesting - my granddaughter who mostly ignores the issues asked me this very question the other day. Thanks for the enlightening discussion.

[Lance_Boyle]

16. For what length of time?

In sauna competitions people spend hours in rooms over 150 degrees Fahrenheit. If you're referring to outside ambient temperatures, people survive in the Afar for days or weeks at temps above 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

[slackmaster]

17. Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?

How about a Turkish bath?

[jberryhill]

20. Do you like to watch gladiator movies?

[guitar man]

21. Ever seen a grown man naked?

:spray: :rofl:

[kenny blankenship]

18. Agriculture will collapse before we get to the point where daytime temps kill significant numbers

But consider that medium rare steak is 130F in the center.

[FarCenter]

22. It would depend on your activity, the humidity and the temperature

Even resting, you produce heat due to the basal metabolism which is burning 1200 to 2000 calories per day (depending mostly on weight) to keep your tissues alive. If you are using your muscles, additional heat is produced, but not a whole lot unless you are exercising vigorously.

This heat has to be gotten rid of by the body, primarily through the skin. As the temperature rises, you sweat in order to cool the skin by evaporative cooling.

The dew point is the temperature below which an object will fog up through condensation of humidity from the air.

If the dew point gets to body temperature of 98.6, the sweat will not evaporate from your skin and your body can't cool itself.

The Colorado State University has a calculator that you can use to determine what combinations of temperature and humidity produce a dew point of 98.6. http://einstein.atmos.colostate.edu/~mcnoldy/Humidity.html

For example, if we set dew point to 98.6 and humidity to 50%, the temperature is 122.65. A humidity of 75% gives 108.31.

[Spider Jerusalem]

23. This is the wrong question to be asking about the impacts of climate change

far more important for the effects on humanity generally: at what temperature and at what level of climate change, warming, and desertification is production of sufficient levels of food crops and livestock to support the existing human population threatened?

[JuniperLea]

25. I've never lived more than six miles from the Pacific Ocean...

I have a very low tolerance for heat. If it gets above 90, I'm immobilized. I don't think I'd ever get used to it either... I've spent weeks on end in the local deserts and always felt I barely got out of there alive.

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

26. 60 degrees

While I may have to live in an area that has many triple digit temps this past summer and many summers before, I personally think anything above 60 is too hot.

Preferably 40's would be good highs with some topping out in the mid fifties.

[JCMach1]

27. UAE Summers range from 45-60 C

Yes, you can manage in the extreme heat, however, it severely restricts your lifestyle.

For example, we don't usually go the beaches in Summer during the day as the water temperature can be around 90F.

Oh yeah, and when the Indian Monsoon kicks in we get the humidity from that with NO RAIN. So, it is 120+ every day with high humidity.

[TalkingDog]

28. it ain't the heat, it's the humidity.

Low humidty = ability to handle higher temps.

Look up thermageddon.

[JCMach1]

31. Some places have both...

see my post above... and yes,it is hell. Most people take vacation for as many months as possible in Summer.

[WinkyDink]

29. Isn't that an easy topic to Google?

[raccoon]

32. Gee, now why didn't I think of that? Matter of fact I did but the only

thing I found gave temps in Celsius, and I don't get Celsius.

Anyway I have hread lots of interesting stuff in these responses.

[FarCenter]

38. F = (9/5) * C + 32

[lunatica]

33. If it's too hot for plants to grow the food chain stops. Death to all things ensue

[Lone_Star_Dem]

34. How hot is too hot for crops to grow in?

That's a milestone which will be reached first. There's also the whole problem with enough potable water, and the general changes to current ecosystems to worry about.

[JCMach1]

36. Date trees can stand 120+ ... also, you still have fish

and yes, Camel meat from the sparse grass that will grow.

[Xithras]

39. Iraq has an active agricultural base in spite of 120+ degree summer temperatures.

Many many years ago, I had a teacher point something out to me: The only difference between the desert sands of the Algerian Sahara and the lush swamps of south Florida is the availability of fresh water. Both are at the same latitude, get the same amount of sunlight, and have the same potential temperatures. The only difference is that one gets a lot of water, and the other doesn't. Same in Iraq. If you look at it in via a satellite map, you'll see lots of dry and sandy desert, with a massive green streak running north to south. Both areas have the same soil, get the same weather patterns, and experience the same rainfall, but one has an abundance of fresh water from the rivers, and the other doesn't.

Plants can survive, and areas can remain very habitable, so long as there is enough water around. There would be a massive short-term loss in biodiversity as cool-weather plants died off, but it's likely that plants, including food crops, can probably survive greater temperature ranges than we humans can.

[LanternWaste]

35. I would think 120 F.

I would think a consistent and constant daytime temp 120 F. would for all practical intents, render a region uninhabitable unless the appropriate technology was used (from aquifers to A.C.).

Having lived in north central Texas for 30+ years, it's unfortunately not too uncommon to hear of elderly adults dying from the summer heat at the rate of one or two per week.