(Way OT) How bad is the heat wave in Europe?

[Zander]

Beyond that, please don't attempt to impugn media sources based on political bias here.

...because, as we all know, media organisations such as the BBC are 110% politically neutral without the faintest trace of bias and always, always tell the pure truth. {Falls on the floor in fits of hysterical laughter.}

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Oz?

My pardons, but several of you keep mentioning Oz, as a nation in the real world.

Now, perhaps Oz is short for some country's actual name?

Or is it THE Oz you are talking about?
You know:

Ruler: Ozma
Mages: Ozma, the Wizard, Glinda, Dorothy
Population: 500,000
Largest City: Emerald City (population 50,000)
Provinces: 5
Languages: Many
Climate: Tropical and subtropical humid (Af, Am, Caf)

 

[Tzarevitch]

Here near Montpellier, it was 42°C (106 °F)wednesday. The translucid plastic roof of the toolshed has literaly burned during the solstice : it's twisted and blackened now... As for the tree and the garigue, it looks like we are already in autumn : the leaf are falling, and it's hard to spot something green... It's somewhat a miracle that there isn't more fire...

Ouch! I haven't had to figure out the centigrade temperature scale since high school so I didn't realize it was THAT hot.

Summer here in Washington, DC has been rather cooler than normal. It is humid as hell though and it keeps raining every day. I visited my parents in Westchester, NY (NYC suburb) over the weekend and the constant rain and humidity was warping the wooden door and window frames. We put some fresh potato chips out in a bowl inside the house and they got soggy in about an hour.

Tzarevitch

 

[crater]

Now, perhaps Oz is short for some country's actual name?

Well...kind of, its Australia.

 

[William Ronald]

Here are some temperatures reported in today's Chicago Tribune for different parts of Europe from Sunday.

London (Heathrow Airport): 100.2 Fahrenheit
Madrid: 98 Fahrenheit
Evora, Portugal: 104 F
Cordoba, Spain: 106 F
Gouron, France: 104 F
Paris (De Gaulle Airport) 103 F
Montelimar, France: 105 F
Grosseto, Italy: 100 F
Milan, Italy : 100 F
Vienna: 97 F
Karlsruhe, Germany: 101 Fahrenheit.

I did hear news reports of a possible cooling trend in the next week.

 

[mythusmage]

Well, as far as I know, global warming will lead to local cooling. Since the gulf-current might be diverted, if the ice continues to melt at the north pole. If the gulf-current suddenly end off the coast of spain, we would have a BIG problem. (snip)

First, the Gulfstream ends way off the coast of Norway. South bound currents off the Spanish Atlantic coast are cold. The same situation holds true on the west coast of North America. In our case the California Current (As the Japanese Current is known after it turns south from Alaska) is a cold water current. The warm air Europe gets comes from the Middle Atlantic, the Gulfstream as it passes by North America, and North America itself.

Second, the sudden 'cut-offs' of the Gulfstream those many millennia ago came about thanks to the sudden introduction of a lot of fresh water in a comparatively short time. The Arctic ice cap isn't that big in terms of volume. It's thing, all things considered, rarely averaging over 30' thick. In addition, it isn't all fresh water ice. Most of it is salt water ice. It takes a while for the salt to leach out of the ice. Then you have the barriers to water going from the Arctic to the Atlantic.

The largest connection between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, the Denmark Straits, is a shallow body of water. Were it twice as deep as it is, then you would see a substantial exchange of (relatively) warm water from the Atlantic with cold water from the Arctic, and a very different world. As it is, there is very little transfer of water between the two oceans through the Denmark Strait, and even if the Arctic ice cap melted I doubt that would change.

Why? Because that fresh water suddenly introduced to the Arctic Ocean would most likely be thoroughly 'diluted' by the ocean water well before it even got near the Atlantic

It's Greenland you need to worry about. With her western mountains it's more likely all that water from a sudden, catastrophic melting of the ice would flood into the waters between Greenland and Norway, cooling them and interrupting the winds that carry the last little bit of Gulfstream warmth to Scandinavia. With the diluted sea water heading south along Europe's Atlantic coast and causing all sorts of havoc to the coastal marine life. So all you Skands might want to stock up on cold weather gear, just in case.

 

[mythusmage]

Tell that to the Muslims!!

1. The 'Muslim' attitude towards women predates Islam and is not universal among Muslims.

2. Mainstream Muslims have more sense than their press would lead you to believe.

3. People can and will adapt, even when their religion poses an apparent barrier to such.

 

[MaxKaladin]

I grew up in Central Texas with temperatures in the upper 90s and lower 100s all summer and we didn't have Air Conditioning until I was 14 or 15. It's just a matter of acclimation, as Morris said back on page 1, and knowing how to survive it. I remember a few things about surviving/being somewhat comfortable in those really hot summers:

1. We drank LOTS of liquids -- mostly water and "kool-aid" -- to keep hydrated. Our parents were fairly strict about soft drinks and stuff like that. They just didn't do as much good as plain old water.
2. Likewise, we didn't eat as much meat as in the winter. It just made you feel hotter. I remember my mom giving me salty snacks because she was worried I'd sweat out too much salt from my body.
3. Little and light clothing. Many of us boys didn't really wear anything but shorts, maybe a t-shirt and went barefoot unless we were going somewhere. Wearing more clothing just meant being hotter. Especially if it was dark colored or made of heavy fabrics. I really noticed this when I started having to wear jeans to help my dad at his farm equipment store in the summers. Of course, most of us tanned reasonably well. The kids who had problems tanning wore more clothes and stayed inside.
4. We stayed outside a lot. See, even with a little breeze it often felt cooler outside than inside. Even with fans and stuff going inside, it wasn't very comfortable. Even though we had video games from when I was about 10 or so. Sometimes I laugh and think of this when I hear parents complaining about video games keeping their kids indoors all summer. Its just as likely its the air conditioning.
5. We also spent a lot of time in and around water. Going to the pool was a popular activity and, when there wasn't water rationing, we had "water fights" involving squirt guns, water baloons and hoses.
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[Bran Blackbyrd]

I recall hearing that, in reasonable amounts, salt actually helps the body absorb the moisture you put into it more readily. Though some of you out there may wish to avoid water retention. Hehe.

We're used to a pretty wide range of weather here, after all, they say if you don't like the weather in Ohio, just wait five minutes and it will change. A canuck I know says Northern Ohioans are basically honorary Canadians.
At any rate, this summer has been almost nothing but miserably hot and humid days and heavy rainfall. A large portion of Alliance was underwater a few weeks ago after a few particularly large downpours. We did have a three or four downright chilly days though.

We've had a lot of days in the high 90s and some close to or over 100 F, I think.

 

[S'mon]

...because, as we all know, media organisations such as the BBC are 110% politically neutral without the faintest trace of bias and always, always tell the pure truth. {Falls on the floor in fits of hysterical laughter.}

Nobody is politically neutral - claiming you are is the most insidious form of bias, because it aims to put you beyond criticism.