"The old benchmark for human survivability was a wet-bulb temperature of 35 degrees Celsius, equivalent to 95 degrees Fahrenheit at 100 percent humidity. These conditions had been observed for brief periods, but never long enough to cause mass casualties on their own - or so we thought."
"Perkins-Kirkpatrick's team applied a new model based on human physiology called HEAT-Lim to six heatwaves... Each event was associated with thousands of deaths due to cardiovascular- or respiratory-related events that went unattributed to heat."
"We have often defined heatwaves by temperature alone and partly that has been because of the data that we had."
Wet bulb temperature combines heat and humidity to indicate how well the body cools itself. A new study reveals that the threshold for mass heat death is lower than the previously accepted wet bulb temperature of 35 degrees Celsius. The study analyzed six extreme heatwaves and found that many deaths attributed to cardiovascular or respiratory issues were underreported due to reliance on temperature alone. This new understanding emphasizes the need for a more comprehensive approach to defining and assessing heatwaves.
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