European Tribune - Community, Politics & Progress.

Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) [updated]

by DoDo
Wed Jul 25th, 2007 at 07:19:51 AM EST

I'm living in hot hell right now.

In the past week or so, special atmospheric circumstances conspired to bring the heat of the Sahara into the Northern Balkans and the Carpathian Basin, leading to a heatwave unprecedented since there are measurements. For local conditions, it is like what hit France 2003.

Hot diary - afew & bumped by whataboutbob

In Part 1, at the peak of the last heatwave, I wrote how every month since last September, temperatures stayed above the 100-year average even in most minimums. Then a series of cold fronts brought reprieve (there was even a day with sub-20°C maximum). With thanks to Fete des fous, here is the daily average temperature in Budapest in the past 365 days from NOAA (they put the data on diagrams faster than my meteorological office...):

But from last Friday, the exceptional meteolological constellation began to act. On one hand, the prior cold fronts left clear air behind, so there is little reflection loss and no rain. Then the same anti-clockwise turning cyclone that brought moderate weather to Western Europe, and an unusually stable-positioned clockwise-turning anti-cyclone conspired to transport hot mid-level altitude air all across the Mediterranean, depositing it into the Carpathian Basin, and the plains beyond it:

While Romania is worst-hit (also see 17h CE(S)T temperature map above the fold), the forties (40,3°C) were seen for the first time in Slovakia, and it happened today [Friday 20 June] that Hungarian towns were on top of the list of highest daily maximum temperatures in Europe (screenshot of WetterOnline, Ungarn = Hungary):

Budapest's all-time record was broken already on Wednesday, and again today (40.7°C). Today, with 41.9°C, there is a new all-time record for the territory of modern-day Hungary, too.

While this is still well below what some of you may have experienced in the Mediterranean (not to mention the Southern US or North Africa), it's not anything the local population got acclimatised to, also considering the length. For scale:

since measurements are on-going, 40°C has been surpassed only in five prior heatwaves, with the two top values: 05.07.1950 with 41.6°C in Csongrád and 21.08.2000 with 41.7°C in Békéscsaba -- but the last was only a few-minutes blip resulting from a dust devil;
those earlier heatwaves were shorter and 'faster': 5 consecutive days with average above 27°C (and none beyond 30°C) in 2000, 6 (2) in 1950, vs. 7 (4) now (all data for Budapest);

though there were two heatwaves with lesser maximum that lasted longer: one in 1994 lasting 11 (1), while August 1992 averaged 26.6#176;C (data for Budapest).

Update [2007-7-21 1:54:19 by DoDo]: Now it's official: the average daily temperature record was broken, too: 32.3°C in Budapest yesterday, vs. 32.0°C on 5 July 1950.

In my office (under a flat roof, no air-conditioning), temperature climbed to 35°C. The absolute limit for office work, as sanctioned by a 2002 law, would be 32°C. To demonstrate the total dismissal of the law: the boss of the tax collection authority declared that the temperature is 37-40°C in his office, after he shut down his air-conditioning 'out of solidarity with his employees'... but roof and road construction workers have it much worse, only exceeded by engineers in river ship machine rooms (8-hour shift in 60°C).

Update [2007-7-24 12:14:49 by DoDo]: After 12 days, with five consecutive recording 40+°C in the Carpathian Basin, the heatwave is over, with the arrival of a cold front just as I am writing.

All temperature records broke in Slovakia and Hungary (see in the text above), the landscape dried up and forest fires broke out like normally after a month of no rain, and the first statistical report from the healthcare office projects 500 excess deaths (with 30% deathrate increase in the worst-hit region). (Compare it to the 2003 West European heatwave excess mortality.)

But the heatwave is still not over in Serbia, Romania, and it just peaks in Bulgaria.

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Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) [updated] | 45 comments (45 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 6)

It's not just my office, it's damn hot here at home too, especially in the computer room... so my 'productivity' is greatly impaired. I feel even more like this guy:

506/1903.

The Honourable Civil Engineering Authority
at Pécs.

In response to your official transcription No. 1090/1903, which arrived with yesterday's mail, and in which you ask what should happen with the old spur found on the limits of the settlement Nagy-Berek? I answer with official respect that the Sirs should fuck their spur, because in a heat of 35°Reaumur [43¾°C] we can't deal with such shittiness.

Budapest, 18 August 1903

With all due respect
horse-dick in your ass
Dr. László Réthy

Hun. Nat. Mus. Coins And Antiquities Department
deputy director.

For the XIVth district Hun. Roy. Civil Engineering Authority
in Pécs.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Fri Jul 20th, 2007 at 12:24:58 PM EST

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 2)

Just read that tomorrow it could become even warmer...

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Fri Jul 20th, 2007 at 12:56:54 PM EST

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 0)

By the way, calling Spanish-speaking Wikipedians: can you find sources for this article?

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Fri Jul 20th, 2007 at 02:13:46 PM EST

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 0)

...and also add the figure for estimated excess deaths (it is only in the Spanish version of the article, but without link)?

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Fri Jul 20th, 2007 at 02:15:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 1)

What XKCD said.

by Francois in Paris on Fri Jul 20th, 2007 at 03:20:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 1)

Well, the Spanish article has a link to this pdf with statistics from the National Meteorology Institute.

Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jul 20th, 2007 at 03:24:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 4)

If you don't know how to deal with it 40 C can be life threatening.

Keep yourself hydrated! Drink plenty of water with just a pinch of salt in each glass. Do not depend on Gator-Aid© or those over hyped sports drinks to quench your thirst. Those drinks will cause electrolyte imbalance. Stay away from beer, coffee, and tea as well. All of these drinks are dehydrating.

Eat a banana every other day to keep potassium up.

If you get overheated a cool, not cold, washcloth on the top of your head is the best way to cool the body. If that's too weird you can put cool washcloths on the back of your hands. These are the two main cooling centers for the body. A cool cloth across the back of the neck is third, and works, but I don't recommend it.

Linen is the fabric of choice as it allows air flow across the body, you'll find the sweat will cool you down rather than collecting on the skin - I assume high humidity as well.

A porous straw hat is recommended for shading the head.

And always remember: rattlesnakes are to be left alone. In the rarest of rare cases you, or someone you are with, is bitten keep calm and call the local sheriffs department.

So, Welcome to New Mexico! Follow these simple safety tips and Enjoy Your Vacation!

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Fri Jul 20th, 2007 at 10:10:13 PM EST

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 3)

Thanks for the advice from experience!

With drinks and banana, I did all the right things without realising why it's good :-)

At home, I wear only underwear... about humidity, it started without (that was one of the ingredients for a heating-up this strong at this latitude), but climbed up strongly by yesterday: water is evaporating from everything at record rate, for example the big lake Balaton receded by 13 cm.

Now, to feel less impressed by what I am in now, what was the worst you lived through in New Mexico? Maximum of maximum day temperature, maximum of minimum night temerature, length of 100F+ (104F+) period?

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 01:47:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 4)

42C, 5% (roughly) humidity, and a southerly over-the-desert wind of 60/kph with gusts over 100/kph. It was brutal. The trick to dealing with those conditions is to soak your shirt in water and then put a light windbreaker on with the wind flaps open. The wind seeps through and the water keeps you cool(er) and doesn't immediately evaporate. If the situation is really desperate you can drink as much water as you can, as often as you can, and pee on the shirt. I hope to never get that desperate! ;-0

We were out hiking and a dry storm moved in on us unexpectedly.

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 02:51:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 1)

42C, 5% (roughly) humidity, and a southerly over-the-desert wind of 60/kph with gusts over 100/kph.

Heh. I think I had that yesterday when I peeked out of the window on the train home...

That (travel) wind doesn't cool at all was one of my 40°C+ discoveries. The other is that my dog was made for much higher temperatures than me, she had no problems running around as ever in 32°C at 22h, while I... took it slowly. Then again, the Friday night teens on the street, or at least part of them, were fine, too. (BTW, I could write a diary about teen culture here in the countryside... I mean, Friday night programme: buy a bottle of wine or heavier and silently[!] drink yourself stiff on a street corner with friends...)

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 05:43:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 2)

That (travel) wind doesn't cool at all was one of my 40°C+ discoveries.

A friend of mine used to call that kind of wind "a blowtorch".

Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 05:47:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]

yeah, when the wind gets over 40 or so (4.00 / 2)

it ceases to be refreshing in any way. like a gigantic hairdryer.

if it's dry, you can carry around a small spray bottle filled with water, and take advantage of the evaporation for cooling.

by wu ming on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 05:56:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: yeah, when the wind gets over 40 or so (none / 1)

Blowtorch, hairdryer, both are rather good descriptions of it...

I practised pouring water on my head from a bottle of water (which I also drank from). The trouble was that once the bottle was half-full, it heated up rather quickly, and even the evaporation cooling wasn't much.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 06:03:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: yeah, when the wind gets over 40 or so (none / 1)

On hot days in Ohio, I put my second water bottle in the freezer at the end of lunch, so at the end of the day for the ride home, its frozen. By the time the ice in my main water bottle has melted and the water started warming up, the frozen water bottle has lovely ice cold water in it.

Of course, this isn't 42C ... hot days this summer have topped out around 35C (much hotter, of course, inside the truck for the unloaders on the box line), but the humidity is certainly well over the 5% mark ... when I'm beginning to sweat at 0530 and the mists in the pre-dawn light show that its near 100% humidity, I know its going to be a fun day in the warehouse.

Utsukushikereba sore de ii

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 08:07:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 3)

To answer the other parts of your question ...

A normal day/night temperature swing is 30-60F degrees depending on the season and the cloud cover. (Clouds equals warmer nights, cooler days.) So even when it is hot during the day it will cool rapidly as the sun goes down and the nights are always pleasantly cool. For example, it was 102F today at noon but it's (checking the thermometer) 44F at 1:00 AM. (The interior temperature of our non- air-conditioned adobe house is 76F -- which explains why adobe is a superior building material for New Mexico.)

I guess I should add we live at 6,500' or about 2,000 meters in altitude which needs to be added when thinking about temperature swings.

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 03:17:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 2)

You lucky you! Here, similar maximums went along with 24°C minimum outdoor temperature in the last three nights, so it was sleep well in 27-29°C.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 05:47:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]

here in california (4.00 / 2)

the hottest i've seen it during the day is around 48 C, although the night temperature fell quite a bit, down to 25 or so.

by wu ming on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 06:00:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: here in california (none / 1)

I left Grass Valley for Santa Rosa (North San Francisco Bay area) and it was 42c, across the central valley. I was with a couple of friends on motorcycles, it was one of the most miserable experiences I've ever had on two wheels. I think it was in 2003 late July.

"I said, 'Wait a minute, Chester, You know I'm a peaceful man...'" Robbie Robertson

by NearlyNormal on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 07:45:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 1)

Yes, this sounds like great advice. I've been looking for moisture wicking clothing to wear here. So far I'm not impressed with the "tech" stuff. It may wick moisture, but it doesn't lend a cooling effect and I've always wondered where the moisture is wicked to. In my experience it just collects in the material. I prefer cotton sleeveless tops and shorts, but haven't tried linen yet. Didn't know about the negative effects of gatoraid (we don't drink much anyway). I recall warnings while working in desert places about regular hydration, because often due to low humidity you don't feel hot at all and don't seem to be perspiring,(in the shade,) but your body is in fact still perspiring rapidly and losing water. I recall 120F in the Sudan once, and I wasn't even hot. In Arkansas one year it reached 110F for several weeks and the humidity was also fairly high. It was miserable, especially since we only had fans for cooling.

Ironically, we stayed in Budapest one summer and had to move out of the then new Kempinski Hotel there because of its puny air conditioning system. So, heat is heat. It's all what your body happens to be used to at the moment.

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears

by Gringo (stargazing camel at aoldotcom) on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 11:55:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 4)

I found linen to be comfortable in high temp/high humidity when living in Iowa. Cotton not so much. None of the bast fibers wick moisture away from the skin and into the cloth. There is a difference, at least that I experience. Cotton cloth is woven with smaller count (diameter) yarn and high Ends Per Inch count. This means the clothing made from the cloth presents a stronger barrier to evaporative cooling. Linen is woven at a much higher tension but with larger count threads, thus lower Ends Per Inch -- a pourous cloth allowing the breeze to flow across the skin and providing 'shade' from the sun.

Linen clothing tends to be more expensive than cotton but it also lasts much, much, longer so it's the old 'Pay up front or Pay more down the road' situation. I get around it by buying summer cloths in the fall/winter when the stores are giving them away¹. Flax has a stronger 'outer shell' that can be itchy/scratchy at first but that softens over time, and washing. The 'bad' thing about linen is that 'rumples' while wearing.

An Iowan friend used to swear by jute, burlap is the most familiar fabic from this plant. She would buy the fabric cheap, cheap, cheap, take it home, and boil the bejesus out of it in a big cast iron pot over a fire in her backyard to soften it. Every so often she would remove the cloth and beat it with a old 5lb fulling hammer she got from who knows where. (I swear I'm not making this up.) After she was done she would sew skirts from the cloth.

Neither flax or jute, take dye well. Well, they don't take dye at all. What you see is what you get. I rather like the natural, subtle greens, browns, and cream colors. And the 'home-spun' look of the fabric.

¹ Being from the Midwest US German/Swedish sub-culture I never got a nickel I didn't immediately fall in love with!

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 01:26:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

additionally (4.00 / 2)

don't underestimate the value of a good cold shower. i got through a taiwanese summer w/o AC that way.

the straw hat does wonders with the sun.

by wu ming on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 05:54:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: additionally (4.00 / 2)

Strange how superior the old-fashioned clothing is to their 'modern' counterparts. You'd think the notion clothing should be comfortable to wear would occur to designers.

Och nu den svenska kocken bakar en Alaskan älg jägare. Bonk! Bonk! Bonk!

by ATinNM on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 01:38:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 3)

I've been working in 32 degree plus in door temps here in tropical Mexico. Not bad really, considering that the humidity goes down during the day, and with a fan it's not uncomfortable at all. The weeks before we arrived, however, the temps reached well over 40 degrees and with the high humidity that's murder to work in. Just taking a shower significantly lends to discomfort in our apt as the humidity is released into the rooms like a steam bath. Having seen it past 44 here, I'm not anxious for a return of that heat. The larger story here however is the drought. Normally there would be almost daily thunderstorms that help cool things off a bit, but we've had one storm and a few hours of rain in two weeks. Before that there had been no rain at all. The terrain looks absolutely parched.

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears

by Gringo (stargazing camel at aoldotcom) on Fri Jul 20th, 2007 at 10:27:40 PM EST

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 3)

yup. here in italy i call it 'stepping into the microwave', simply going outdoors anytime between 10 am and 7 pm.

symptoms of sunstroke to watch out for: dizziness, light-headedness, nausea, delirium (!)...

ironically, i found that a hot shower, finishing with a cold blast, works better than a simple cold one, and that drinking hot cups of green tea are helpful. i learned this in india, though i don't go for milky chai any more. something about keeping pores open.

it was so hot the other afternoon, it cost even to talk!

i noticed as i settled down to reading ET, i'd stop feeling uncomfortable, then when my SO asked me something, and i'd answer, i'd feel like panting again.

having 1 m. thick stone walls is a lifesaver, and downstairs remains cool until mid afternoon, upstairs after midmorning is not an option, unless you're fresh from the umpteenth shower!

this is why there are few rental properties in umbria without pools, it is simply too suffocatingly hot to do anything else.

the brit tourists are in seventh heaven, as their reports of england's apology for a summer make it easy to understand...

yesterday i saw the first little clouds in about 2 weeks...they faded fast, after 20 seconds of created shade, that was quite dramatic, as in rapid moodshifting lighting in a film.

great graphs, dodo!

Peace is not the absence of war -- peace is the absence of fear. Ursula Franklin

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 06:25:52 AM EST

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 2)

Here the temperatures go up and down. On Monday evening we had 37° on the village square and today even with a warm sweater it is cool to sit outside for lunch, about 16°.

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 06:27:00 AM EST

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 3)

Once upon a time I got tired of this "weather" thing and moved to a place where it's 23C every single day of the year.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 08:49:30 AM EST

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 2)

Where is that? I'm freeeezing here in Scotland...23 all year would be bliss...

by Solveig (link2ageataol.com) on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 02:00:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 2)

The San Francisco peninsula.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 02:55:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 1)

Pity...USA is not for me, I'm afraid...
I'll just have to put more clothes on, I suppose...and dream...

by Solveig (link2ageataol.com) on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 06:40:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 0)

South Bay is not 23°C year long but close. And then you realize that warm and blue sky become really boring after a while :>

by Francois in Paris on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 05:49:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 1)

It's possible that I on occasion exaggerate, and also that I know the local climate.

Sick of the blue sky...no. Not after 25 winters in Minnesota.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 07:57:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 0)

Ah, Minnesota ... That explains it, indeed.

by Francois in Paris on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 08:33:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 1)

I miss it, though.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 09:35:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 2)

What do you miss? The people or the weather?

The people, I would understand. But it goes with the weather. Shitty weather forces people to cooperate. In winter, you can't let paupers outside and old people alone with a broken furnace. They would freeze to death. Same in Canada or Northern Europe. Minnesotans are nice - or at least, a hell lot nicer than Californians - but there is a reason.

Come to think about it, it may also explain a lot of things about Orange County :>

by Francois in Paris on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 10:10:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 0)

NoCal and SoCal are very different places. I would never live in SoCal unless GE offered me $200k a year to design windmills at their facility down there.

I do miss some of the MN weather, actually.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Sun Jul 22nd, 2007 at 06:53:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 0)

Oh, and what's applicable to the South Bay / Peninsula is not applicable to San Francisco itself.

The valley is protected from the Pacific ocean by the coastal sierra but in SF proper, it gets much more interesting (4 or 5 micro-climes I can think of) and actually pretty cold in summer, often colder than winter.

by Francois in Paris on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 05:52:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 2)

Mark Twain did not actually say that "the coldest winter i ever spent was summer in San Francisco," but Ambrose Bierce did say that the best defense against SF summers was a good bar. (And if he didn't he should have.)

Skennah Kowa

by Crazy Horse on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 07:49:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (none / 0)

I don't know what Mark Twain said but I have had my share of very chilly summer lunches at Cliff House.

by Francois in Paris on Sat Jul 21st, 2007 at 08:32:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

weather aphorisms (4.00 / 2)

"if you don't like the weather, wait a while" - new england

"if you don't like the weather, walk a block" - san francisco

of course out here in the central valley, we can count on searing heat (38-45) from may until about october, although the nights tend to be pretty pleasantly cool (15 C) most of the time. we've got macroclimates.

by wu ming on Wed Jul 25th, 2007 at 03:31:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) (4.00 / 3)

I'm a native Minnesotan, and I live in a home without air-conditioning. We have about two weeks of summer temperatures above 30 degrees C. Here are more tips for managing the heat.

Any kind of melon, berry, or green leafy vegetable has the nutrients our bodies need during hot weather. Yogurt is refreshing, as are soy beverages.

Shade always keeps things cooler. Trees, awnings, canopies, and umbrellas offer places that are less hot. I've never lived in a brick or stucco building, but I wonder if those that are covered with leafy vines are cooler.

Underground places are cooler, such as cellars and caves. My home has a cellar, and I go there to cool down. I sleep down there, too.

Sleep in a loosely woven hammock if your back can tolerate it.

Buildings with really high ceilings can be cooler. Churches, museums, and government buildings are possibilities.

by MMMinnesota on Sun Jul 22nd, 2007 at 11:45:31 AM EST

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) [updated] (4.00 / 3)

the boss of the tax collection authority declared that the temperature is 37-40°C in his office, after he shut down his air-conditioning 'out of solidarity with his employees'

You know you are in Europe when....

Hey, drink lots fluids, DoDo, and sit very very still.

"This is nothing compared to how Putin rigged Eurovision."

by poemless on Tue Jul 24th, 2007 at 02:33:30 PM EST

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) [updated] (4.00 / 4)

We're outdoing you over here:

Today downtown Athens touched 43 Celsius. And tomorrow it might just reach 44. Starting Thursday, we're expecting some decent chilling down. As I write this, it's two o'clock in the morning and I think the temperature is ~32 (and I'm in the north of Athens which is kind of better than downtown). Tomorrow, I'll be flirting with heat collapse as I'll be running around downtown Athens on various chores. My wife will be tour-guiding at the Acropolis which means staying under the sun and trying to talk (one hopes) coherently for a couple of hours. We'll see if we make it...

Although this is the third day of > 40 C highs, the situation is not uncommon over here (although we're touching some historical records around the country) and people know what to do. We are having serious power supply problems however as various plants around the country failed, there was some sort of power failure in the Balkans (Bulgaria? I'm not sure) which meant that a large part of Northern Greece that was importing electricity from our neighbours blacked out and the Development Minister is all over the TV channels pleading with the population to turn down their damn ACs.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Tue Jul 24th, 2007 at 07:46:16 PM EST

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) [updated] (4.00 / 5)

OK, we made it but the environment and others didn't: a huge forest fire in what is developing into a record forest-fire season, has burned already a large part of the magnificent and dense forest of the Northern Peloponnese all the way to the sea - and is spreading southward. Both major highways from Athens to Patras and Western Greece in general are shut down due to the fires which are continuing unabated as I write, having burned down already between 200 and 300 sq. km. of forest, agricultural land and approximately ten villages. At least three people were burned to death in these villages (where the locals refuse to be evacuated by helicopter as they are trying to protect their homes and property) already. The firemen and the emergency personnel have explicitly stopped trying to extinguish the fires since the scale is beyond human control and no fire extinguishing airplanes and helicopters can operate during the night, focusing instead simply on saving lives and villages (a couple of towns are in danger as well).

This a couple of days after two air force fire fighters crashed trying to fly as low as possible in order to better target the water load they carried on a fire in the island of Evia. And less then a month after the fires that burned down a significant part of the Parnitha national forest next to Athens, mount Pilion and myriads of fires large and small erupting all over the country daily. As the fire in the Peloponnese develops there are at least 4 other major fires around the country and tens of smaller ones.

The root causes of all of this is a very hot summer, poor forest management and an attempt by the government to modify the constitutional definition of protected forest areas, a move that was obviously construed (and not irrationally) by some owners (real or alleged) of forested land as a sign that after a major fire their properties might be legally de-characterized as forest areas (with elections coming soon), meaning that they might be able to build stuff there - thus the ridiculously large percentage of arsons as a cause of this year's forest catastrophe. The whole protected area - forest area - public property encroachment - illegal contruction issue in Greece, is a very long story, but suffice it to say that it has resulted in the gradual minimization of forest areas around major cities and tourist areas over these past 40 years.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Wed Jul 25th, 2007 at 07:16:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) [updated] (4.00 / 2)

Update [2007-7-24 12:14:49 by DoDo]: After 12 days, with five consecutive recording 40+°C in the Carpathian Basin, the heatwave is over, with the arrival of a cold front just as I am writing.

What are the chances of heavy rains and flooding in the Danube or Elbe basins?

Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Jul 25th, 2007 at 08:43:12 AM EST

Re: Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) [updated] (none / 1)

This cold front was an one-off, more wind than rain. There were heavy rains in Bavaria, with some local flooding, but not much altogether to swell up the Danube. There was much more rain in the three weeks prior to the heatwave.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

by DoDo on Thu Jul 26th, 2007 at 02:40:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Local Warming 2 (Skull Caps Melting) [updated] | 45 comments (45 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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