My cousin who lives and works out in the Middle East, sent me a message on Monday to let me know that Kuwait had reached the highest temperature ever recorded, and that he was now experiencing an outside temperature of 60 degrees Centigrade. With this message he sent a picture to show how some traffic lights had melted in the heat. His East End humor had not left him though – he informed me that his nipple rings were conducting heat and that he was sizzling!
Our garden thermometer showed 28 degrees on the same day, and that’s quite hot enough for me. This got me to thinking; how do the locals fare I wonder? Are they used to heat like this? Why do people have their nipples pierced? Have I missed out on one of life’s little pleasures?
Nipple rings aside, a 60 degree Centigrade heat is no joke. Here’s what Michael O. Church says about it on Quora:
Our cells start to die around 41°C (106°F) to 45°C (113°F) but we can survive much higher air temperatures: a healthy person could make a day trip to Death Valley on one of its hottest days ( 55°C – 131°F) and so long as he avoided dehydration, would probably not die. In fact, he’d probably be okay as long as he had access to water, preferably stored at a temperature lower than 55°C, because it would actually be painfully hot to the touch at that point. In water, the upper limit seems to be about 50 °C (122 °F) for short-term exposure; even a couple of degrees hotter, first- and second-degree skin burns become possible within minutes, and that’s clearly not a sustainable situation. So while one could theoretically withstand 70 °C air at desert humidity indefinitely, you’d need regular access to a cooler supply of water. Water at the ambient temperature would cause second-degree burns in seconds.
Most deaths in heat waves are from cumulative heat stress (over days and weeks) rather than heat stroke, and that has more to do with long periods of exposure to moderate heat (30-35 °C) than the acute kind. 45 °C will give you heat stroke if you’re dumb enough to go running without bringing water, but you’ll be fine if you stay in the shade, and most of the desert environments capable of such temperatures cool down at night. On the other hand, if you sleep in a concrete building with no air conditioning and the night-time air temperature is still over 30°C, you’re putting your health at risk. Most of these deaths aren’t attributed to heatstroke or even directly tied to heat, but come from natural bodily causes like heart attacks.
I imagine the people of Kuwait are going from one air-conditioned room to another, and then having to run to their air-conditioned car instead of strolling down to the shops. I wonder if it’s possible to become just as Vitamin D deprived in an extremely hot country as it is over here in the UK? We suffer from a lack of sunshine here, but the people of Kuwait have it in abundance. However, it’s just too hot to go out in it, especially with pierced nipples!
Can you stand the heat, or do you get out of the kitchen?
Thanks Bernadette. Rather busy helping Mum to move to residential care. Sorry not to post in Feminist Friday this week, but have a lot going on at the moment.
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I cannot imagine having to function in that type of heat. I enjoy cooler climates. It must be my Scottish grandmother’s genes coming out. Hope all is well with you Stevie and thanks for posting.
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I would like the opportunity just to be warm! Still so chilly and gloomy here every day! We might manage the occasional couple of houts of sun, but not very often. But I can’t manage more than 25 and that’s at a pinch with a bit of a breeze! I’m not asking for much, just for some sunshine 🙏🏻
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Whereabouts in the world are you?
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I share the same sky as you nationally, but we may as well be in different hemispheres!
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Here in the Pacific North West, we experience mainly moderate weather—snow-free winters and usually sunny summers at 70 degrees F. So we don’t suffer extremes. But I was grew up on the prairies (land of extremes), and yearn for the hot, dry summers of my childhood!
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I often wonder what the native population of Kuwait think about the 60 degree heat. Do they consider it out of the ordinary? If, like you, they’re born in a hot place, then possibly they’re used to it.
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Wow. That is unbearably hot. I can’t even imagine it.
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Neither can I!
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We are quite spoiled living in the controlled environments that we do! I do love the warmer temperature but that is quite extreme….although I suppose you get used to it? It’s also nice we basically have a choice where we want to live, so if you don’t like the heat, you can move elsewhere!
As for the pierced nipples? Maybe not today…
jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
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My cousin wants to move back to the UK, but cannot at the moment due to his job and pension.
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Yes, much worse! No, I cannot bear too much heat either. I don’t know how anybody from the UK could want to live out there.
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I can’t even begin to imagine heat like that, I don’t enjoy it when it goes past 20C! But it’s hard to have any sympathy for a grown man who has chosen to have his nipples pierced! Could have been worse, though 😊
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