Comments on: Heat And Death In India: Global Warming’s Direct Effect https://gregladen.com/blog/2015/05/26/heat-and-death-in-india-global-warmings-direct-effect/ Sun, 07 Jun 2015 14:25:15 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 By: Il fondo del Barile #14 | Risorse Economia Ambiente https://gregladen.com/blog/2015/05/26/heat-and-death-in-india-global-warmings-direct-effect/#comment-477489 Sun, 07 Jun 2015 14:25:15 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=21192#comment-477489 […] sta colpendo il subcontinente indiano in queste settimane (fine maggio) è semplicemente spaventosa e la gente muore, direttamente per l’eccesso di calore e per cause ad esso […]

]]> By: Astrostevo https://gregladen.com/blog/2015/05/26/heat-and-death-in-india-global-warmings-direct-effect/#comment-477488 Sun, 31 May 2015 11:34:59 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=21192#comment-477488 PS. Think also about nights – rows of consecutive nights – where the temperature never drops below say 25 Celsius (77 F) or more for extended periods. Where a lot of people (raises hand) find it hard to sleep and suffer as a result. Think about the implications of that. We can take some actions to adapt and we will – but these actions also have consequences and side effects (think power bills that are just unaffordable for many especially the poorest & most vulnerable among other things) and aren’t always all that effective.

Yes, we can try to legislate and try to adapt but it still a huge problem and has a huge impact on a lot of people and cannot always be done. Even in wealthy First World lands like Australia and the United States.

]]> By: Astrostevo https://gregladen.com/blog/2015/05/26/heat-and-death-in-india-global-warmings-direct-effect/#comment-477487 Sun, 31 May 2015 11:29:00 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=21192#comment-477487 @9. Omega Centauri : “One adaptation will be, that all outdoor work stops (by law) at a given temperature/heat index.”

Thing is, this isn’t always possible given things like bushfires that parts of our world – like mine – experience because of heat wave conditions. Think firefighting and medical emergencies and a lot of unethical employers that have workers in no position to say no even when their health is on the line.

]]> By: Astrostevo https://gregladen.com/blog/2015/05/26/heat-and-death-in-india-global-warmings-direct-effect/#comment-477486 Sun, 31 May 2015 11:25:05 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=21192#comment-477486 Death toll now over 2,000 :

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-30/india-reels-under-heatwave-as-death-toll-tops-2000/6509482

.. and rising still every day.Temperatures of 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) in one Southern Indian city or so I heard on the news the other day.

This catastrophe is almost going unmentioned here and yet it shouldn’t. In six months time or so, it maybe our turn and then we’ll no doubt hear no end of it. Because it will be us not them. I hate to think what’s coming then and what these poor individuals are going through.

]]> By: The Climate Change Debate Thread - Page 4884 https://gregladen.com/blog/2015/05/26/heat-and-death-in-india-global-warmings-direct-effect/#comment-477485 Sat, 30 May 2015 04:48:24 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=21192#comment-477485 […] Heat And Death In India: Global Warming’s Direct Effect – Greg Laden's Blog Earth's 5th Deadliest Heat Wave in Recorded History Kills 1,826 in India The 10 Deadliest Heat Waves Recorded in World History 1) Europe, 2003: 71,310 2) Russia, 2010: 55,736 3) Europe, 2006: 3,418 4) India, 1998: 2,541 5) India, 2015: 1,826+ 6) U.S. and Canada, 1936: 1,693 7) U.S., 1980: 1,260 8) India, 2003: 1,210 9) India, 2002: 1,030 9) Greece and Turkey, 1987: 1,030 All but one of the above since 1980. Even if the data collection in earlier years was not the best, so many heat waves in recent years is telling, and is as predicted. Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog : Earth's 5th Deadliest Heat Wave in Recorded History Kills 1,826 in India | Weather Underground India’s killer heat waves are on the rise, with hundreds dead this month – The Washington Post Sign in or Register Now to reply […]

]]> By: KLR https://gregladen.com/blog/2015/05/26/heat-and-death-in-india-global-warmings-direct-effect/#comment-477484 Thu, 28 May 2015 22:10:37 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=21192#comment-477484 Although human activities have added to the global warming, that contribution is minor compared to the natural glaciation cycles which occur on about 80,000 to 140,000 year cycles. Saying that the recent temperatures are record breaking only represents short term data. It has been at least as hot before during previousl interglacial periods.

See these sources:
http://www.indiana.edu/~geol105/images/gaia_chapter_4/milankovitch.htm
http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/154612/

[
No. Orbital geometry has been shown to relate to the coming and going of “ice ages” (an oversimplification) only when CO2 levels are well below 350ppm or so. We have shifted CO2 levels to 400ppm and rising, so this is no longer a factor. CO2 levels are higher now then they have been in millions of years, and temperatures are climbing above any likely temperature of that same period. It was not warmer globally during prior interglacials. This difference in temperature is entirely human cause (though, again it is a bit more complex than that). You have bought into a fallacy perpetuated by climate science deniers. But now you know that so you can learn more stuff and get closer to what is really happening!
-gtl]

]]> By: Omega Centauri https://gregladen.com/blog/2015/05/26/heat-and-death-in-india-global-warmings-direct-effect/#comment-477483 Thu, 28 May 2015 19:25:26 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=21192#comment-477483 The chances are heat related deaths can be cut down to fairly low levels, but good civil policies. So the real issue with AGW won’t the an increase in heat related deaths, we know how to adapt. The issue will be theeconomic cost of that adaptation, both direct. Especially in terms of reduced productivity. One adaptation will be, that all outdoor work stops (by law) at a given temperature/heat index. {I read China was cheating, and you could see it in reported maximum temperatures staying a half degree below the threshold}. There might even be mitogating interventions here, some form of personal cooling probably, which will allow some outdoor activities to continue safely.

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2015/05/26/heat-and-death-in-india-global-warmings-direct-effect/#comment-477482 Thu, 28 May 2015 14:06:24 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=21192#comment-477482 Russell, you just stepped on your own argument.

Changes in land use are changes in context grating against acclimatization. That is certainly part of the problem in India. The British colonial army going to India is a context against acclimatization.

You can’t explain away one thing without explaining away the other, an the british-south asia link is much much stronger. Epidemiologists have looked at heat death in India. We know that heat island and migration explain only part of it.

]]> By: Russell https://gregladen.com/blog/2015/05/26/heat-and-death-in-india-global-warmings-direct-effect/#comment-477481 Thu, 28 May 2015 13:31:19 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=21192#comment-477481 In colonial India, in 1900, the British army suffered more deaths annually from heatstroke than malaria.

The 61 % rise in indigenous heat related deths in this century may however be driven as much by urban population growth – and its feedback on the urban heat island effect as decadal temperature trends.

Little wonder America’s near universal air conditioning is such an immgration draw !

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2015/05/26/heat-and-death-in-india-global-warmings-direct-effect/#comment-477480 Thu, 28 May 2015 12:38:54 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/?p=21192#comment-477480 Yes, and therein lies the problem that adaptation hides part of the cost of climate change.

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