What are wet bulb temperatures? A heat expert explains.

Record ID: 1737023

  • Title: What are wet bulb temperatures? A heat expert explains.
  • Date: 9th August 2023
  • Summary: WEST LAFAYETTE, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 6, 2023) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CLIMATE SCIENTIST, MATTHEW HUBER, SAYING: " So you can think of it as the as a limit to how cold your skin can possibly get because the wet bulb temperature is the minimum temperature, your skin can cool too through evaporative cooling. And humans leave.... Humans lose about 75 to 80% of the heat they lose through evaporation typically. So it really is a matter of the not just the heat because the humidity to determine conditions that are healthy for humans." TOKYO, JAPAN (AUGUST 5, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RUGBY FANS FANNING THEMSELVES TOKYO, JAPAN (AUGUST 4, 2023) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH SQUARE BEHIND SHIMBASHI STATION MIST SPRAY CHILD HOLDING UP HANDS TO FEEL SPRAY (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) LOCAL RESIDENT, KYOKO SUGIYAMA, SAYING: "It's really tough. There are also a long of people who are collapsing from the summer heat. This heat is causing us trouble." PEOPLE WALKING WITH UMBRELLAS WEST LAFAYETTE, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 6, 2023) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) CLIMATE SCIENTIST, MATTHEW HUBER, SAYING: "We tend to lose about 80% of our heat through sweating, if you cut that off, if the wet bulb temperature is hotter than what would allow you to lose that heat, then you're you know, it's it's like somebody has cut off your main way of cooling. It's like somebody wrapped a wool coat around you in the middle of the summer. So once you lose that, you have serious problems losing heat. Now, it's not like you suffer ill health consequences immediately. It takes several hours of continuous conditions like that to cause you serious health problems."
  • Embargoed: 23rd August 2023 15:29
  • Keywords: cliemate change wet bulbs
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: Various
  • Topics: Climate Adaptation and Solution,Climate Change,Environment,General News
  • Reuters ID: LVA003285607082023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:part video quality as incoming
    Wet bulb temperatures, which take into humidity into account, are of increasing interest in a warming world.
    High wet bulb temperatures — once thought to be 35C(95F) wet bulb, but possibly as low as 30C(86F) wet bulb — can be dangerous because humans can struggle to cool their bodies in these conditions with prolonged exposure.
    Humans lose around 80% of heat through sweating.
    But when both humidity and air temperature are high, it becomes harder for humans to dump excess heat through sweating.
    If humans can’t cool down, they’ll eventually overheat — triggering respiratory and cardiovascular issues, and even death.
    Climate change is predicted to affect not just how bad wet bulb temperatures can get, but also how long they last.
    The upper range of wet bulb temperatures scales directly with global average temperature.
    At just 2C (3.6F) of global warming above preindustrial level, lethal wet bulb temperatures could be easily breached.
    The world is on track for 2.7C(4.9F) of global warming by 2100 under current government policies.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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