[nicenewtemp84]

I think this is fear mongering. Last summer my father was saying it was too hot to function and we should put off the interior house project we had planned.

It was 108.

As he said this, we were at a stop light next to a Speedy Oil Change facility. Shop doors rolled open, guys in long pants, thick shirts, changing oil and rotating tires.

People that don't work physically underestimate what the human body can do.

[dendrite9]

People who spend all their time inside with AC would not do well if suddenly they had to deal with 108. But people who spend more time outside can adapt better and learn methods to help cope. Of course that has a limit, the discussion about wet bulb temps in India and Pakistan last year was about the limit of where healthy people can function. But it doesn't take that much heat to make life hard for old people.

I have family in a place that is ususally above 100 in the summer. When I go there from a temperate location I struggle. But after a week or two I am more able to help with yard work, or taking the kids out to the park. If I spend a month the high temperature becomes fairly normal.

[earthling8118]

I spent 9 months in a location where it would commonly get to 110 by 10am. I was generally outside and commonly doing manual labor. I didn't acclimate at all. It isn't a universal thing.

To this day I don't handle hot weather well, and I don't mean 110. Anything above mid 70s is very uncomfortable and I sweat profusely and get irritated. This includes sleeping, during the warmer months I always get soaked in my sleep. I drink a lot of water too but it doesn't help.

[treeman79]

Spent a couple hours in 95 degree heat full humidity. Had partial but not full shade. Full heat stroke. Took hours to get my heart rate below 130. Many days to recover.

I’ve done more time in the sun working out (moving) and been totally fine. Difference is I drank huge amounts of Gatorade.

[ultrarunner]

I run all summer in the afternoon. Up to 106°F is fairly comfortable, 107°F feels tolerable, and >108°F is very difficult. It really does feel like it falls off that quickly.

However, I have done this for years. I sweat a lot more, and a lot more quickly, than I used to. There have definitely been both long-term and beginning-of-the-season acclimation periods, and it's a bit of an understatement to say that not everyone is interested in pursuing this. The result is major trailheads being closed in certain conditions due to tourists routinely collapsing, needing rescue, or sometimes passing away. This despite the fact that there are many of us locals who are fine within our limits (that we know and have learned to respect).

Those guys in the Quickielubes have a swamp cooler going at minimum, are acclimated, out of the sun, and are still uncomfortable. The landscapers are up at 5am and disappear as the temps climb. We'll be in the half that don't end up in the ED.

[paulryanrogers]

Different people have different thresholds. I cannot function well above 80F in humid weather. I get dehydrated very quickly with a small frame and heat exhaustion in short order.

[ultrarunner]

At any given time, yes. My thoughts above are somewhat rambling, but what I found most interesting was the adaptation over time. I'm sure that capacity for adaptation is variably effective amongst different people as well.

[fnordpiglet]

Definitely. I’m unable to function above 72F. That’s because god made me a programmer.

[fzeroracer]

It's funny to see people normalize increasing temperature extremes. It's not going to help you when summers become longer and hotter over time and people become physically unable to work as a result.

The limits of the human body and our ancestor's ability to survive in these heat waves were dependent on the waves being far shorter and less intense.

[maxlamb]

There is a huge difference between one afternoon hitting 108F and then going back down to the 70’s after midnight, and a situation where for multiple days temp reaches upper 110’s in afternoon and still being in the upper 90’s at 3-4am, like it can be during a Phoenix summer heatwave

[chomp]

Your logic is faulty, unless the population of Phoenix is comprised of 1.6 million (presumably able-bodied) mechanics.

[nicenewtemp84]

Well I sure didn't think it was comprised of 1.8 million weak ill people, hence why I thought saying HALF of the population would need medical care was fear mongering.