760 die in UK heat wave (mostly under 90°), because only 0.5% of them have AC

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Korey

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Why 80-degree temperatures kill in the U.K.

The U.K. is enduring a serious heat wave that has resulted in an estimated 540 to 760 deaths over nine days.

Yet the highest the temperature has risen is 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Most of the time, temperatures have hovered in the high 80s, which, while toasty, doesn't seem like it could kill hundreds of people.

Last month, for example, the temperature hit 117 degrees in Las Vegas during a heat wave that scorched the Southwest and parts of California. The heat was so intense that aviation officials in Phoenix grounded several planes because it was too hot to fly. Yet, across a vast region of the United States, only a few fatalities were recorded.

The same goes for the current heat wave hitting the Northeast. Temperatures have reached nearly 100 degrees in New York, yet it hasn't experienced the same kind of troubles the U.K. has.

So why does 89 degrees kill in the U.K. when it doesn't in the United States?

One reason is that air-conditioning is relatively rare in England. Only 0.5 percent of homes in the U.K. have air-conditioning, according to the BBC. Compare that to the United States, where an estimated 87 percent of households have an air-conditioning unit.

In fact, flipping on the AC accounts for as much as 15 percent of America's total energy consumption. While all of those air-conditioners might not be great for the Earth, they come in handy when the temperature starts climbing toward 100 degrees.

Temperatures approaching 90 degrees are unusual in the U.K. In London, the average high in July is only 73 degrees. As a result, many people don't take the proper precautions against extreme heat.

"Other countries are used to very hot summers, we are not ready for this," said Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. "Thirty-five degrees [95 degrees Fahrenheit] is pretty brutal and you need to be careful, particularly if you're frail."

In London, 10 children, including a 4-week-old baby, were admitted to a single hospital over the last week to be treated for severe sunburns. Around 457,459 people flooded into the U.K.'s A&E (accident and emergency) wards during the first week of the heat wave — the second-highest total since the country began tracking those statistics.

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Their tweed clothing probably doesn't breathe very well either.
Most of the time it just rains and dry heat dehydrates faster
 
I suppose the problem of a country with such variable & unpredictable weather is that you're never really prepared for the extremes.
 
You can survive that shit without A/C. What you can't survive it without is water.

I bet they're not hydrating enough, not being used to exactly how much you need to drink when it gets that hot.
 
Already covered in the thread about the heatwave but yeah, we don't have the need for air conditioning the vast majority of the time and on top of that our buildings are designed to keep heat in.
 
Wait, less than 1% of people have AC in the UK? I find that really surprising. Never would have guessed.
 
Wait, even at 90 degrees it seems weird for a regular person to die even without ac. I've had the AC broken at 95-100 and it didn't seem like the end of the world. Just having the power go out during hurricanes in the summer is doable
 
Ignorance seems to be the killer not the heat. 90 degrees is nothing and nowhere near a killer temperature unless you do everything to make it so
 
timetokill said:
You can survive that shit without A/C. What you can't survive it without is water.

I bet they're not hydrating enough, not being used to exactly how much you need to drink when it gets that hot.
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This.

I live in Ontario and lacked air conditioning for years. It always ended up getting to 30+ C (86+ F) inside my apartment during the height of summer. It sucks trying to sleep through that, but as long as you have a few fans and drink a lot of water, it's livable.
 
So how did humans survive before comfy homes and air conditioning? Because for thousands of years they had to endure temperatures like these all day every day of the summer.
 
When I was in Europe last month and it was extremely hot, people seemed honestly baffled at the idea of having the A/C to the extent Americans I was with wanted. I think its just a cultural thing.
 
metalslimer said:
Wait, even at 90 degrees it seems weird for a regular person to die even without ac. I've had the AC broken at 95-100 and it didn't seem like the end of the world. Just having the power go out during hurricanes in the summer is doable
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Yeah, I find that odd. 91 is the normal temperature (during summer) where I Iive.

I guess it's probably people not used to heat.
 
It's not the AC. It's people who aren't used to this heat so they don't hydrate themselves nearly enough and are probably exerting themselves too much.
 
Its 10:33pm in my hometown and its around 84ºF, im baffled with peoples inability to hydrate themselves. (If thats even the case)
 
Air Zombie Meat said:
It's mostly old and frail people that died. Regular people aren't dropping dead from it.
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Survival of the fittest. Those people were already on the cusp of death, the heat was the push that tipped them over the edge. With the exception of someone dying directly from a sunstroke, all of these hundreds of deaths are "only" statistical deviations from the norm.
 
TUSR said:
Its 10:33pm in my hometown and its around 84ºF, im baffled with peoples inability to hydrate themselves. (If thats even the case)
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Not really baffling at all. Most people don't drink enough water regardless of the season. People think they're hydrating when they drink shit like soda.
 
It is really sad that so many people died from it. It sucks that anyone died, really, especially since it seems easily avoidable.

Personally, I don't even use the AC in my place, even when it goes up to 100°. At around 85°, I stay much more hydrated, and around 95°, I use fans more. I can understand that people aren't prepared for it and may not even have fans, and you can get heat exhaustion in temperatures like that if you aren't prepared.
 
They can't handle winter because they don't have snow plows and their pipes run outside of buildings and freeze. They can't handle summer because nobody owns an air conditioner. Man UK just can't catch a break. I lived the first 16 years of my life without an air conditioner and I can't fathom going back. During the day, I can handle but hot nights just drive me insane. I feel bad for all these people who just aren't used to such large temperature swings.

Still it's hard to imagine as a Canadian. Our temperature get way hotter and way colder and we get by just fine. I'm surprised the 2003 heat wave that killed 70,000 people didn't result in an uptake of air conditioner purchases.
 
krae_man said:
I lived the first 16 years of my life without an air conditioner and I can't fathom going back. During the day, I can handle but hot nights just drive me insane. I feel bad for all these people who just aren't used to such large temperature swings.

Still it's hard to imagine as a Canadian where our temperature get way hotter and way colder and we get by just fine.
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All the more reason for you Canadians to get rid of the queen.

You shouldn't have to bend the knee to the monarch of those weakling Brits.
 
Today I did a stupid thing and fell asleep in my hot room totally woke up with heat exhaustion. The proper way to alleviate this is find a cool place and hydrate. If people don't do that it can lead to heat stroke.
 
That's an insane amount of people. That's like several decades worth of people dying from heat related deaths around here. It's been no less than 95° here for a month. Most of the people go hang out in malls and such for free ac. Drinking fluids and staying in the shade is important if you're going to be outside.
 
They aren't used to it, and the elderly are probably the ones suffering the most.

Wearing clothing for hot weather and drinking lots of water is probably a foreign concept to them.
 
krae_man said:
They can't handle winter because they don't have snow plows and their pipes run outside of buildings and freeze. They can't handle summer because nobody owns an air conditioner. Man UK just can't catch a break. I lived the first 16 years of my life without an air conditioner and I can't fathom going back. During the day, I can handle but hot nights just drive me insane. I feel bad for all these people who just aren't used to such large temperature swings.

Still it's hard to imagine as a Canadian. Our temperature get way hotter and way colder and we get by just fine. I'm surprised the 2003 heat wave that killed 70,000 people didn't result in an uptake of air conditioner purchases.
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Same, I guess we have super temperature controlled skin.
 
Mr. Serious Business said:
You know, this isn't a very cool thing to say when the thread mentions how 760 people died because of the heat wave.
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It's insensitive, yes, but it's just weird. I suppose it's just that we are used this kind of heat. I mean, I wait in my car for my friend to get out of work everyday in 90+ weather without water or anything and I'm there sweating like a slob. I never think twice about it.
 
Mr. Serious Business said:
So how did humans survive before comfy homes and air conditioning? Because for thousands of years they had to endure temperatures like these all day every day of the summer.
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People never lived this long until the 20th century. The average age before was around 30, in rare cases as high as 40. Plenty of people still died from exposure, but drought and starvation were much bigger concerns during a heat wave. These numbers seem a lot bigger when the developed world has more or less eliminated many of the most common causes of premature death.

It also helps to be more accustomed to it. It was nearly 50 C here yesterday and people just get on with their day, since 45+ degree weather is expected this time of year. People in the UK are less prepared for that, similar to how things go to shit here when it rains heavily.
 
timetokill said:
You can survive that shit without A/C. What you can't survive it without is water.

I bet they're not hydrating enough, not being used to exactly how much you need to drink when it gets that hot.
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Pretty much. Sydney regularly gets over that temp, even with high humidity. Mass deaths from heatwaves during the '80s didn't occur, even though AC ownership was small.

Drink plenty of water, drink some more, get some fans and sleep downstairs if it's scorching upstairs.
 
Actually my grandmother was telling me about this earlier today and she said her sister was complaining about how hot it was and that they didn't have an air conditioner. My first thought was "They aren't poor, why don't they just buy one?" and my grandmother told me nobody in the UK sells them.
 
krae_man said:
Actually my grandmother was telling me about this earlier today and she said her sister was complaining about how hot it was and that they didn't have an air conditioner. My first thought was "They aren't poor, why don't they just buy one?" and my grandmother told me nobody in the UK sells them.
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Well that's wrong. Even Argos sells those little portable ones.
 
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