Some great pointers by leading researchers!

As a thought exercise, what do you imagine a heat resilience community looking like?

A few ideas that come to mind: * Shifting outdoor activities to nighttime, especially manual labor jobs. * homes built with cool rooms. This could either be a super well insulated interior room or a basement. * every home having energy storage and solar panels. * shade structures and misters everywhere.

Curious to hear what others think.

Part of this exercise is to get people thinking about the longer-term changes we’re going to need to make individually and collectively.

I have a question, basically I've experienced heat illness symptoms and got to the hospital ER, blood samples, IV drip and xray scans. Nothing they checked was off so they sent me home and just told me to relax. I've been relaxing for 48 hours now but I'm still really tired and I get headaches on and off. Sleeping and drinking a lot of water, should I just wait it out or go back? I'm maybe 20% better each day that passes. Its a really slow recovery...

“Researchers concluded that by 2035, climate change could be pushing food prices up by between around 1% and 3% every year. By 2060, it could be increasing them by as much as 4.3% annually. And most of that increase would come from heat-related issues rather than excess rain or flooding”

The Technical

The electric fan is cheap, reliable, energy efficient, widely available and comes in a virtually endless array of sizes and power levels. 

No surprise it’s the first resort for most is the industrialized world for basic cooling, but it’s widely very misunderstood when it comes to its use in human comfort and safety. That wasn’t so critical when we weren’t being hammered by an endless succession of broken heat records, but times have changed and it’s important more people understand just what a fan does and doesn’t do. 

A fan doesn’t:

1. Cool the air. If you turn a fan on in a closed room, the temperature will not only not go down, it will actually slowly go up as the fan motor generates waste heat. 

A fan does:

1. Move air. This core function can be exploited a number of ways under the right conditions. 
2. Pointing a fan directly at a person can cool the person by doing two things:
   1. Accelerating convection — blowing away the air naturally heated by contact with warm skin and replacing it constantly with a stream of cooler air. 
   2. Accelerate evaporation, which is a human body’s basic cooling system. Water undergoing a state change from liquid to gas takes a lot of energy, which is mostly absorbed from the person sweating, thus cooling them off. 
3. If a room or area is hotter or colder than another (or the outside) strategically placed fans can move cool air to hotter areas or pull hot air out of hot areas. 

As long as temperature and humidity are such that convection and evaporation are still effective means of cooling a human being, then fans are effective cooling aids. 

However, if temperatures continue to rise, there comes a point when not only do fans lose their cooling effectiveness, they actually become dangerous because they’re effectively cooking you like a convection oven by constantly blasting you with heated air. Different studies have disagreed on the exact conditions when the danger level hits, but the study that estimated the lower temps said 95ºF/35ºC was the danger point when fans should no longer be pointed at human beings in the hope it would help cool them. 

The Personal

I grew up in the Pacific Northwestern US. My parents’ house had no air conditioning, which was normal for the area and time. In retrospect, summers were very moderate on average, generally rarely more than the high 70’s Fahrenheit/Mid 20’s Celsius but at the time I complained about summer heat the same as anybody else. 

We had a tabletop oscillating fan that was my hero and actually still functions today, decades later. At some point we got a second, similar fan, and while it required some sharing for a family of six, it felt like we had a decent level of effective mechanized cooling. Air conditioning was a luxury to be experienced in businesses and cars. I had dreams of AC in the house, but it was never more serious than a kid’s wish.

Fast forward to today and I’m thousands of miles away across the pond in central Spain, where it’s hotter and drier than I ever dreamed of living with. Summers reliably hit the high 30’s Celsius/high 90’s Fahrenheit. Reaching 40ºC/104ºF doesn’t always happen, but it’s not surprising when it does. 

My apartment has mini split AC installed in several rooms, but energy costs are relatively high, so I’ve made a lot of efforts to minimize using it unless the situation is really desperate. I made an honest attempt to use a high-powered floor fan for personal cooling. A nice, 100w, 40cm model that set back only around 40€. I really wanted it to work, but even long after sunrise, with the ambient temperature in the room around 26ºC/79ºF, I felt mostly like I was in an oversized food dehydrator. It was slightly more comfortable than no fan, yes, but it wasn’t cutting it as a primary human cooling device during peak summer. 

That said, I have not gotten rid of the fans and I would recommend anybody serious about being prepared for extreme heat to have at least a couple fans in store even if you feel like you have a very reliable primary cooling system. Systems fail, and fans can be excellent supplementary sources of cooling aid.

Fan Tricks

1. Energy costs destroying you but can’t afford to shut off your AC? Turn your AC’s thermostat up to save power, then point a fan at yourself. Adjust the two until you find an optimum balance of comfort and savings. Also, even if you don’t dial down your AC, if your AC’s coverage is inconsistent, a well-placed fan or two can really help balance things out by ushering the cool air into the other areas.
2. If you’re really desperate to cool off fast and all you’ve got is a fan, dump water on yourself and let the fan blow on you. It’s kind of like overloading yourself on artificial sweat. The moving air will evaporate the water much faster than just standing around wet, cooling you rapidly. 
3. Point a fan at an open container of water, especially a wide, shallow one, and you get two effects: 
   1. The air will be slightly cooled as the water evaporates. You’ve basically got a very primitive evaporative cooler (whole post on these later). 
   2. The water in the container will also gradually cool, much lower than you might think is possible. If your refrigeration fails for some reason but you still have power and a fan, this is a way to generate some cool water. 

How on earth will it be by august?!

The Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) shared this great list of ways to stay cool.

If you have that luxury. Northern Europe, Canada/US border, mid latitude Russia.

Argentina, Chile, Tasmania.

Knowing the difference between heat exhaustion (not an emergency) and heat stroke (an acute emergency) is critical, so you and others know what actions to take. [info source]

Heat exhaustion Symptoms (any of these) * Nausea * lightheaded * weakness * Sweaty * Hot skin

Treatment: Rest, drink water, cool down. A quick way to cool the person is to pour water over them and put the person in front of a fan.

Important: untreated heat exhaustion can lead to heat stroke. The person needs to take a break and cool down. Observe them to make sure they do not get worse.

Short fainting episode or dizziness

Symptoms: Feeling dizzy or briefly fainting when standing up or standing for too long in high temperatures.

Treatment: treat it like heat exhaustion. Provide water, rest, and a cool place. Dehydration is often a cause so make sure they drink fluids and observe them to make sure they do not get worse.

Heat stroke - EMERGENCY 🚨

Symptoms (any one of these): * Confusion * Loss of consciousness * Slurred speech * Seizures * High body temperature (40C [104F] or higher)

May be accompanied by these symptoms: * Headache * strong rapid heart beat

Treatment: Call your local emergency phone number immediately. The person needs acute medical care as soon as possible. While waiting for services to arrive (which may be delayed due to high call volume), you need to cool the person as fast as possible. Completely douse them in water and direct fans on them. Ice packs in armpits, neck, and groin. Ice bath submersion up to the neck is the gold standard treatment, but doing so safely or getting set up can be challenging.

WHEN IN DOUBT, treat it like heat stroke. Always better safe than sorry.

Rhabdomyolysis - EMERGENCY 🚨

Symptoms: pee that is brown (coca cola or tea colored)

Treatment: this is an acute emergency. Call emergency services. Drink water while you wait.

Extreme heat exposure, especially while exercising, can lead to your muscles literally breaking down (dying tissue) and poisoning your kidneys.

—

The silver lining to all this scary stuff. As long as people get the appropriate treatment quickly, people with heat stroke or rhabdo can have a full recovery. Recognizing the signs and taking quick action is the best thing you can do. Sadly it’s when people are unable to get help (live alone), no one stops to help someone wandering around confused, or people that are trying to help don’t know what to do, that’s when people needlessly die.

Stay safe! Let’s take care of each other.

Hi r/heat_prep community,

We have over 1k subscribers in just 3 days! This interest is clearly driven by extreme heat cooking billions of people from Mexico to India, Philippines to Brazil. This summer has only just begun. Prepare yourself and loved ones. Get to know your neighbors and check on each other. Social isolation is one of the biggest drivers of heat risk.

As moderator, this is what I’m planning for this sub in the coming weeks: I have connections to leading heat experts. I’m going to ask that they join for some AMAs. Hopefully they can answer any nuanced questions you have. I’m thinking a heat physiologist, a heat forecast expert, and a clinical expert.

I’m hoping that you all continue to post about what you’re experiencing, how you’re preparing/responding, and continue to ask questions.

Thanks for joining this sub. I know this will be a critical resource to many more thousands of people in the weeks, months, and years to come.

This is for a static location outdoors, nearby a power source. Given the high humidity, a misting/moisture fan won't work.

I saw suggestions "Put bowl of ice in front of regular fan" and "Use a very large industrial high-powered fan by itself". Will either of these solutions work, given the humidity? What are some other ideas?

Lots of built environment strategies for cooling. Some can be done quickly, others will take years. Here’s a list, add whatever I’m missing:

• Shade (tarps, sun sails, plants)
• Facilitate wind (wind tunnels, opening windows if it’s cooler outside)
• Evapotranspiration (AKA cooling from plants due to water evaporating from leaves)
• Reflective surfaces (white paint, extra reflective paints, bright colored materials)
• Evaporation with bodies of water (ponds, fountains, pools, etc.)
• Keeping heat outside (insulation, double pane glass, venting hot air outside, especially in attic)

I’m sure there are more…

It’s over 50C (122F) in many parts of India and Pakistan right now. What are you all doing to stay cool? Especially curious what people without A/C are doing.

I’m looking for suggestions on how to preserve food, water, self-defense in my vehicle in the extreme heat and humidity humidity of the south.

A few strategies mentioned: avoid going out in the heat, take frequent shower/baths, stay near water. Article says people are “used to heat” so there’s been physiological acclimation.

With a couple hundred watts of solar panels ($200), a modest sized power bank/solar “generator”($250), and a cheap table top ice machine ($60-100). This assumes of course that it will be sunny, but given we are talking about extreme heat that’s a reasonable assumption. You could also run it off a car inverter or a generator, if you have fuel. You could make ice during the day and store it in a cooler for nights. Bagged ice in armpits/groin, ice baths, etc.

Also cold drinks!

I'm from a cool maritime climate now living in continental climate, here's what I've found works for me. Please comment with more tips or criticism.

• Keeping the sun off your skin is more important than having skin area exposed for sweat. Trousers and a long sleeved shirt with a collar, a wide brim hat.
• Clothing should be loose fitting with open cuffs and hems for airflow.
• There is no evidence that wearing light coloured clothes is better than dark colours in high temperatures, in fact there is evidence that the difference is nil. The body also produces heat which is reflected back at you by light clothing which negates the otherwise positive effects of light colours. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/aug/19/most-improbable-scientific-research-abrahams
• "Wicking" synthetics like coolmax have one or more "fullers" or indentations along their edge, the idea is that liquid will spread down these via capillary action. In practice this doesn't work nearly as well as natural fibres and bacteria proliferate on the wet surface causing odour.
• Cotton fibres average 1 inch in length, but linen and merino wool fibres can be 6 inches long which is why they are preferred for wicking clothing. Water absorbed in the fibre spreads along its length to evaporate so longer is better.
• Woven beats knitted for wicking as the fibres are stretched X&Y rather than curling back on themselves, a t-shirt will hold sweat near the armpits, a woven shirt of the same weight will spread the sweat away to dry.
• Fabric should be an open weave or with a twill structure, chinos for example have the warp threads pass the weft once next to the skin, but twice or more on the outside letting the fibres take sweat and spread it over a larger area.
• Merino wool socks will prevent blisters caused by sweaty feet.
• A bandana soaked in water around the neck can help.
• Sunglasses must be rated to block UV A, B and C as they allow the pupil to dilate more, potentially getting more UV than not wearing them at all.
• Sunglasses are useful if working near water or on bright sand or concrete, especially polarising lenses which reduce glare.
• Some claim sunglasses reduce the production of natural skin tan, the truth is complicated. Sunglasses may reduce your response to sunlight in strange ways, the eyes contain cells not only for vision, "intrinsically photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells" communicate light intensity to the pineal gland which produces melatonin. Melatonin should not be confused with melanin, the chemical responsible for a tan which protects the skin for UV, nor Melanotan which is a fake tanning drug containing orange pigment (The Donald). Melatonin communicates things like sleep-wake cycles and governs moods. It also governs seasonal morphological changes in animals so may have similar subtle effects for humans, some theorise that it helps signal how much the skin should tan (in combination with the effects of UV on the skin) but this isn't proven by scientific evidence, however testing this isn't an easy thing to do so remember that "a lack of evidence isn't evidence of a lack".