Scary underground effects of heat: 'Disable' important body functions

Humans are facing a number of dangerous climatic features such as extreme rain / heat and more .

35 degrees, 30% . alarming numbers

A new study shows that temperature and humidity beyond what the human body can tolerate are gradually appearing in the context of global warming due to climate change, global warming.

In an article in the journal Science Advances , the researchers presented observational data showing that the temperature of wet thermometers in some places exceeded 35 degrees Celsius - the point where humans can no longer adjust the temperature. the body . The human body's tolerance level is currently defined as less than 35 degrees Celsius (the temperature measured from a wet thermometer temperature).

Postdoctoral research scientist Colin Raymond and colleagues say previous studies have suggested that: " even the strongest, most adaptable people cannot perform outside activities." It's normal when the wet thermometer has touched 32 degrees C ". The index of 35 degrees Celsius - the highest level achieved in some cities in the Persian Gulf - is the theoretical limit of survival.

Humans cool their bodies by sweating; water that drains out of the skin removes excess body temperature, and when it evaporates, it carries that heat. This process works nicely in deserts, but is inferior in humid areas, where the air is already overloaded with moisture.

In the next few decades, deadly heat waves / heat waves will begin to hit South Asia. (Artwork: Scientificamerican)

(Wet bulb thermometer, also called wet bulb (W et-bulb temperature - WBT) , is an index that combines the temperature, humidity and cooling capacity of the body to respond to the change of environment).

Previous studies have predicted that this will happen for decades to come, however, in fact, the increasing rate of global warming has accelerated this process. As a result, wet pots in many parts of the world will exceed human endurance, lead author Colin Raymond from Columbia University, USA.

Analyzing hourly data from 7,877 individual weather stations around the world, the researchers found that the extremely high temperature / humidity combination doubled between 1979 and 2017. Repetition appears in most of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan; northwestern Australia; and along the coasts of the Red Sea and the Gulf of California of Mexico.

Thus, scientists estimate that about 30% of the population in South Asia in particular will have to live in hazardous environmental conditions. It is predicted that in the coming decades, deadly heat / heat waves will begin to strike in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, in the Indus and Ganges basins.

Climate change "spark" new kinds of extreme weather

Most discussions of climate change and extreme weather focus on the current weather hazards such as heat waves, floods and droughts becoming more frequent and intense. But climate change can also spark the emergence of new types of extreme weather that are particularly difficult to prepare because we've never seen them before.

Suppose, for example, that a strong tropical storm caused widespread power outages and then, before the grid could be repaired, a heat wave (excessively hot weather) struck. . The lack of energy for air conditioning to reduce heat can put many people at risk.

The researchers collected records of 121 major tropical storms that hit the Pacific Northwest, South India and the North Atlantic basins between 1979 and 2017. They calculated the probability of a The storm affects land position every day of the year.

They also use temperature records to calculate the probability of locations with a heat index of 40.6 ° C for each day of the year. This allowed them to model the likelihood of a heat wave 30 days after the storm hit. And as climate change takes place, such storms will be more and more likely to be followed by heat waves.

A 2015 global population map added the final question: How many people can be affected by these tropical events due to tropical storms? The researchers calculate such events could occur about once every 10 years, and affect about 400,000 people.

Deadly heat waves tend to occur along restricted waters. (Image: Rsndetre / Getty Images).

The researchers found that deadly heat waves tend to occur along restricted waters, bays and straits, where evaporating seawater provides abundant moisture but is quickly "locked" by the researchers. hot air. Four years ago, Cosmos Magazine pointed out that moisture can actually be a killer in the context of climate change because it worsens the effects of heat.

Research shows that worldwide, the number of times the thermometer thermometer has approached or exceeded 30 degrees Celsius has doubled since 1979.

Kristina Dahl, an climatologist at the American Union of Scientists (UCS), says that some areas of the world have felt this dangerous environmental condition when heat / heatwave rages occurred. profane.

In 2015, India and Pakistan experienced the fifth dangerous heat wave in modern history, killing about 3,500 people , Moitruong.com said.

Extreme heat: The worst scenario in the future?

According to the latest research of two scientists, Michael Grose - Climate Forecasting Scientist of Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO); and Associate Professor Julie Arblaster on Environment, Earth at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, they have found a new model in the context of modern climate change, namely: Climate sensitivity.

Using mathematical models to predict the future of the Earth in a warming world, the team of scientists said: Climate sensitivity refers to the relationship between changes in carbon dioxide (CO _2). ) in the atmosphere and warming.

Warming the Earth's surface directly as a result of increased CO ₂ in the atmosphere, as well as other greenhouse gases such as steam, CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, O₃, the CFCs.

Climate models will be submitted and approved carefully by the research community and by scientists in the assessment report of the upcoming Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Climate sensitivity is one of the most important factors for climate change, strongly affecting our greenhouse gas adaptation and mitigation plans.

It is a standard measure of how the climate responds when the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere doubles.

Higher climate sensitivity values ​​mean that the future climate is hotter than previously expected, which means an increase in extreme heat . As a result, humans face a range of other extreme climatic features such as extreme rainfall, rising sea levels, extreme heat / heat waves and more, reducing our adaptive capacity. (as mentioned above).