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Comment by lmm | Hacker News Reader

> The really scary thing will be when the wet bulb temperature goes above 35 degrees, and humans can only survive with AC.

That's already an everyday reality in Singapore.

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No it isn't. People spend time outdoors perfectly comfortably in Singapore. https://meteologix.com/sg/observations/wet-bulb-temperature....

Depends on the season. "Everyday" was a poor choice of word, but 35+ wet bulb temperatures happen and are to some extent routine and expected.

Singapore is not mentioned in the wiki article on wet bulb temperature.

And given that the maximum ever temperature in Singapore is 35-36 for most months, I doubt that a wet bulb temperature of 35+ is common.

When I visited Singapore most people retreated indoors to the AC from about 2:30-4:30 every afternoon. I don’t recall the exact temps then but the idea that everyone would be just fine in a severe heat wave leading to power grid outages is false.

I don't make any sort of claim of 'just fine'. I am saying there will be places and times where people cannot regulate their body temperature via evaporation, so they will die outside without AC within hours. And in Singapore that point hasn't been reached yet.

The point isn't that it's "just fine" right now, it's that it will get way worse.

The wet bulb temperature went as high as 34.2ºC today, at 2:30pm:

https://api-open.data.gov.sg/v2/real-time/api/weather?api=wb...

(Search for "high".)

WBGT != WBB

I'm sweating as I read this in a non-air-conditioned room.

No, I'm already not comfortable indoors. It's much worse outdoors.

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