To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
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@GraziosiSergio @Remittancegirl @noodlemaz I find this with hiking...it takes a while to get your 'legs' so to speak.
I think there is something about bodies taking time to transition and adapt as you say. Even rewire some neurons cos it sounds very much like what happens with learning a motor skill - you're better the next day after sleep cos the brain wires the process in?
It's why 'sleeping on it' is actually a good idea, as is breaks.
@radioclash The very best advice I got when I first moved to HCMC was to learn to sleep without aircon. With just a fan. Because it really helps the body to acclimatise faster. Luckily, I didn't have aircon, so I had no choice. But I must admit, my body adjusted pretty quickly.
But I think for what people are going through in Europe right now, it's a serious shock, and it is not like the change is permanent.
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Dehumidifiers are your friend. It's amazing how much cooler it feels, even at higher temperatures, if you can get the humidity down.
@cian I think they work very well up to a certain point, but over that, you're just emptying the reservoir ever 10 minutes.
Happily, I now live in the south of Spain, where the temp gets higher, but it is relatively dry, and until it hits 40 C, I find it pretty comfortable. But over 40, it's just nasty anywhere.
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@Remittancegirl Another problem making vulnerable, is poverty. Poor people often live in worst conditions. Here in France we have a new word "energy poverty": people can't pay anymore the bills for heating in winter and cooling in summer because their flats are a horror (landlords didn't invest).
We just have a debate how dangerous these conditions have become for students.
We had some good political ideas but our recent chaos government destroyed them ...@NatureMC This - so much. Also, as it applies to working conditions. People - usually on far lower incomes - who work outside are at much greater risk. And often have employers who just don't give a shit what happens to them. @ApostateEnglishman
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@sidereal @vriesk @Remittancegirl @svenscholz I was there in 2011...during the elections, it was fun *ahem*...I now know what tear gas smells like.
I didn't have A/C in my room. A/C was quite rare as I seem to remember?
You must've stayed in some posh hotels or been on a tour, I was on my own. I only remember A/C being on the tour bus to Abu Simbel. I think my room in Aswan had it, not the room in Cairo though.
But touring the mosques it was super cool - not cos of A/C but the design of them. Same in Moorish parts of Spain - those little squares with fountains and trees,, the square buildings, the windows with mesh vent holes, etc.
Amazing how it works.
And btw I wasn't talking about Egypt, I mentioned Islamic architecture as a model, so not totally sure why you brought it up?
Islamic style architecture exists in Europe, too!
@radioclash It does indeed. And even in Cordoba, in the height of summer, the Mesquita is probably one of the coolest spots in the city without any artificial cooling at all. @sidereal @vriesk @svenscholz
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@NatureMC This - so much. Also, as it applies to working conditions. People - usually on far lower incomes - who work outside are at much greater risk. And often have employers who just don't give a shit what happens to them. @ApostateEnglishman
@Remittancegirl @NatureMC Right - and let's not forget *indoor* industrial production lines, in which the machinery generates additional heat, protective clothing makes it difficult to cool down, and there's no air conditioning because, as you say, many employers couldn't give two hoots about the wellbeing of their employees.
Or basically any physically demanding job, indoors or outdoors.
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@Remittancegirl Thanks! Is this (finally) the explanation for why I crave very spicy food on hot days? The sweat triggering?
@SonjaS I have no scientific data to back this up. But I don't think millions of people in SEA and the Indian Subcontinent can all be entirely wrong.
Chilis didn't originate in Asia. They came from the Americas, but it's uncanny how so many places with a hot climate incorporated them into their local cuisine and so passionately!
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@Pomegranatepirate Very cool! Some of the old buildings in HCMC with clay tile roofs have a drip system that leaks little streams of water onto the hip of the roof. The evaporation works to pull the denser, cooler air in through the windows and doors on the bottom floor and convection pulls it up into the second floor. I don't know if it works, but it was very popular with the French. @MyWoolyMastadon @gbargoud @fietsria @vriesk @svenscholz
@Remittancegirl @Pomegranatepirate @MyWoolyMastadon @fietsria @vriesk @svenscholz
In Egypt, Nubian architecture tends to include at least one room that is a large dome with a small hole in the top for stack effect ventilation although that is for a dry heat not a wet heat: the number of days per year that rain comes through that hole is often in the single digits
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@Remittancegirl with 38° at 90 % you'd be way above wetbulb temps that are life threatening. Sweating as a cooling effect doesn't work any longer, when the air is already full of moisture.
If you still have cold water, you can cool down your body and the surrounding temps. Do NOT stay longer in such an environment as absolutely neccessary.
Get into cooler surrounding.@energisch_ Marina, meet @vriesk
I know you're going to enjoy each other's company.
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To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
I lived in approx 38C with 90% humidity for 20 years, and I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Don't do anything fast that you can do slow.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain. They work for sun, too.
3. Sweat is your friend. Drink lots of liquid, eat and drink things that trigger sweating.4. Cold showers and baths trigger your body to warm up. Room temp showers work best - and don't bother drying off.
All really good advice.
If you have air conditioning keep it at 25C.
If you have to go out in the heat, it is less of a shock to your system.
If overheating, a wet facecloth to the back of the neck can help cool you down.
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@vriesk
Yes, absolutely. They help evaporate sweat, even if just a little, even if they're not cooling you down directly.I notice that fans really stop helping at about 40. But it never got that hot in Vietnam where I was. But when I was in Cordoba, which is very dry heat, I noticed that fans started to feel like a hair-dryer on hot at 40C. If anything, it made it feel worse.
@Remittancegirl @vriesk @svenscholz good to know!
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To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
I lived in approx 38C with 90% humidity for 20 years, and I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Don't do anything fast that you can do slow.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain. They work for sun, too.
3. Sweat is your friend. Drink lots of liquid, eat and drink things that trigger sweating.4. Cold showers and baths trigger your body to warm up. Room temp showers work best - and don't bother drying off.
@Remittancegirl I learned about umbrellas for the sun when I lived outside of Hong Kong. It was miserable a lot of the time there.
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Are you sure about those numbers? 38C with 90% humidity is 36.5C wet-bulb.
That is not survivable by a human and sweating does not cool one down at all in such a temperature. Also, according to Wikipedia, the highest recorded wet bulb temperature ever was 36.3C in UAE.
@vriesk @Remittancegirl That's cool, I wasn't familiar with the concept of "wet-bulb temperature". It's pretty scary that heat that is not unusual in many parts of the world can kill you under the right circumstances.
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To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
I lived in approx 38C with 90% humidity for 20 years, and I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Don't do anything fast that you can do slow.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain. They work for sun, too.
3. Sweat is your friend. Drink lots of liquid, eat and drink things that trigger sweating.4. Cold showers and baths trigger your body to warm up. Room temp showers work best - and don't bother drying off.
@Remittancegirl
Best advice I've seen so far. Thankyou x -
To my northern neighbours suffering from the current heat wave.
I lived in approx 38C with 90% humidity for 20 years, and I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Don't do anything fast that you can do slow.
2. Umbrellas aren't just for rain. They work for sun, too.
3. Sweat is your friend. Drink lots of liquid, eat and drink things that trigger sweating.4. Cold showers and baths trigger your body to warm up. Room temp showers work best - and don't bother drying off.
@Remittancegirl I hate the Irish weather most of the time.... but not this week.
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I was on a zoom reading meeting and my friend in Singapore also reminded me - rightly so - to pass on that high levels of heat are not just physically draining. They can be psychologically draining too.
So, if you are feeling anxious or overwhelmed, please know that you can indeed breathe and you aren't dying - that feeling of panic will pass if you just sit quietly, sip some water, and breathe evenly.
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@radioclash The very best advice I got when I first moved to HCMC was to learn to sleep without aircon. With just a fan. Because it really helps the body to acclimatise faster. Luckily, I didn't have aircon, so I had no choice. But I must admit, my body adjusted pretty quickly.
But I think for what people are going through in Europe right now, it's a serious shock, and it is not like the change is permanent.
@Remittancegirl @radioclash @GraziosiSergio yeah sleep is mostly OK for me
But I was up at 4am for our giant storm..! https://mstdn.games/@noodlemaz/116798298730139143 -
@radioclash The very best advice I got when I first moved to HCMC was to learn to sleep without aircon. With just a fan. Because it really helps the body to acclimatise faster. Luckily, I didn't have aircon, so I had no choice. But I must admit, my body adjusted pretty quickly.
But I think for what people are going through in Europe right now, it's a serious shock, and it is not like the change is permanent.
@Remittancegirl @radioclash @noodlemaz
Having slept through it (with a fan!), I think that my motivation for participating / writing this (I rarely do) was: yes, sudden heatwaves in places where 30+°C temperatures don't happen regularly are truly *worse*, and dangerous, *because* our bodies aren't ready for it.Moreover, unsuitable buildings and lack of know how make it even worse.
[Managed to cycle into work, to find my naturally cool office in the basement!
] -
@Remittancegirl @radioclash @noodlemaz
Having slept through it (with a fan!), I think that my motivation for participating / writing this (I rarely do) was: yes, sudden heatwaves in places where 30+°C temperatures don't happen regularly are truly *worse*, and dangerous, *because* our bodies aren't ready for it.Moreover, unsuitable buildings and lack of know how make it even worse.
[Managed to cycle into work, to find my naturally cool office in the basement!
]@GraziosiSergio @Remittancegirl @radioclash the lack of hat wearing in this city when it's hot astounds me. People are so ignorant of sun safety.
No wonder melanoma cases are rising. Always spot the British tourists a mile away, blinding bright red. -
@radioclash The very best advice I got when I first moved to HCMC was to learn to sleep without aircon. With just a fan. Because it really helps the body to acclimatise faster. Luckily, I didn't have aircon, so I had no choice. But I must admit, my body adjusted pretty quickly.
But I think for what people are going through in Europe right now, it's a serious shock, and it is not like the change is permanent.
@Remittancegirl @radioclash @GraziosiSergio @noodlemaz it should not be New for Europe.
You could foresee it for 20+ Years. -
@Remittancegirl @radioclash @GraziosiSergio @noodlemaz it should not be New for Europe.
You could foresee it for 20+ Years.@abuerkl @Remittancegirl @radioclash @GraziosiSergio it being foreseen (and ignored) doesn't make it not-new.
