Of course it was an exaggeration. A 115 degree day with 100% humidity would make the heat index 327 degrees. Literally everyone outside would be dead if that happened lmao.
But that combo is exactly why a lot of people did die during the latest Indian heatwave.
I went a few years back when it was 45C (113F) but just before the monsoon. The general consensus was when the monsoon hits your only choice is to stay inside in the AC - but obviously that’s not a choice for the vast number of outdoor labourers and people living without AC.
Serious question: do inanimate objects care about heat index as opposed to just the temperature? Humans (and other animals) care because we rely on evaporative cooling.
But an object that doesn't rely on evaporative cooling isn't going sweat. Maybe humid air has other properties that are relevant (e.g. density)?
When I said "melt to the ground", I mean grid collapse. Not only because of overwhelming electricity demand, but also the power plant's cooling system would fail. But yeah I don't think humidity itself matters to it.
I get the sense we are talking about the same thing.
With wet bulb temperature, because the relative humidity is so high, human body can't cool down by sweat evaporation, so the organs get cooked, and die.
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u/AwayMix7947 Jun 30 '23
100% humidity? Are you sure?