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"I'm sure the op-ed applauding teachings unions for keeping kids in school is right around the corner."
(sh.itjust.works)
this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023
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Well I grew up in the sub-tropics and 40 was when the school would start considering, but we'd still end up staying over 40 anyway. It's funny, the policy was 35 when I started and 40 when I left and never once did we get to go home or not go into school, probably because it's a logistical nightmare for parents.
Once you're up at that sort of temperature exposure, you can't talk about just temperature. You need to include humidity as well. Humans have a limit of around 35°C web bulb temperature. Beyond that, we slowly overheat and will eventually die. We can tolerate bursts above that, but not sustained exposure. At 40°C, this occurs at around 75% humidity. Drop the humidity to 35% and the temperature limit jumps to 50°C.
This is actually likely to be a significant issue, with climate change. Some populated areas will start exceeding this limit, for sustained periods. No matter how "heat tolerant" you are, you are still limited by human biology.
Seems weird. It's 29C and 61% right now and feels like a normal spring day. We've only just come out of winter and things aren't very warm yet. It's at it's worst when it's in the 40s and so humid, it storms for 15 mins every few hours. Some people will be active, but most will just sit around drinking beer.
That's only a wet bulb temperature of around 23°C. I'm hot, but fully functional, in those sorts of temperatures. I've personally worked, at full tilt, though 42°C heat, while out in Dubai. At the same time 30°C can leave me useless in the UK. The humidity difference has a huge effect.