21 Comments

Disaster capitalism in its finest form of irony.

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Thanks for this, although you didn't distinguish "wet bulb" temps. Over here in Marietta,, Ohio, in a river valley, had to take my morning 1 mi. stroll (hill to climb on the way back) before 10AM or develop heat stress and have to bathe in cold water/AC on returning to get my core temp back down and stop sweating. I'm 79 and can't imagine how hot it must be working outside down South. I saw a while back that without all the cooling in the hydrological cycle, we'd be 65 degF hotter now, and we're losing 1.2 trillion tons of global ice annually, 3.3 billion tons daily. Greenland is losing 30+ million tons of ice hourly. C3S predicts that 2/3rds of our 220,000 glaciers will have melted by 2,100. Pity the child born today. Remember the feckless frog in the slowly heating pan of water?

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The next trillion dollar venture will be the one that can build a working replica of Dune’s stillsuit.

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In Japan, it has recently become popular to wear jackets with fans blowing air inside. The jacket are somewhat wind proof, and tightly fitted at the waist, so the fans create a strong flow of air upwards, flowing out of the neck hole.

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I have seen lots of construction workers and other people working outside wear this.

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Andrew---Thanks for posting that temperature plot. It told the same story as others I've seen. Your memories of Houston's climate flooded my brain with memories of several decades back then. In the early sixties I played 2 season of college football about 1.5 hrs from Houston. I came to my senses after 2 seasons. My point is: at that time, and untold years earlier, high school and college football started with practices in mid-August. The icing on the cake was that there were 2 work out per day, morning and late evening: I was not a willing participant. The good news today is; according to major news sources in Texas, 2-a-day practices are no longer in style. Evidently for several years as I understand (I've left that behind long ago). I can't imagine the heat strokes that would be treated nowadays: there was only one my first year on the team. In retrospect, it was a great weight loss program---- I might lose 20 lbs in one practice and gain it back by drinking gallons of water and iced tea. Ahhh, youth.

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If I remember correctly, someone said, “Let them be uncomfortable in their poverty”.

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And thanks to the Texas legislature and our governor, we now have a law that eliminates local ordinances mandating water breaks for constructions workers. It's always disheartening to see how well a politics of cruelty plays: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/16/texas-heat-wave-water-break-construction-workers/

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They actually took away their water breaks…and not only in Texas. Meatball Ron put the kabosh to water breaks in Florida, as well.

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Yes, this is incredibly chilling.

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The sooner we drastically reduce greenhouse gases emissions and reverse or at least warming, the better.

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While temperatures are rising, demand for these (let's face it... silly) personal air conditioning devices is in large part due to the comfort crisis. As we've become more prosperous overall, we've forgotten what it's like to deal with the hardships of our ancestors. We've become spoiled and can't deal with even minor discomforts.

So we make more gadgets to improve comfort at all times—such as personal air conditioners. That of course, increases consumption and natural resource demand, contributing more to environmental degradation. The hedonic ratchet/environmental exploitation cycle is a wicked problem for sure.

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Beware of graphs whose axes don’t start at zero.

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I feel horrified for the animals. A neck cooler isn't going to be sufficient for dogs - they can only sweat out their paws and tongue, and they covered in fur. There's going to be so many pets dying of heatstroke.

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100% agree

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Ok now come on! Does the appearance of new and innovation types of personal heaters prove global cooling? I’m not arguing global warming. Just that with our prosperity and free markets, with producers seeking niches everywhere, that new products aren’t evidence. I’m particularly concerned about your hate for wealthy people.

They can really help solve problems. Be careful who you demonize. Me for example.

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I'm not demonizing anyone. I don't think the people who make these products are evil, but I do think it's a marker of a warming climate.

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Hmm, Larry Janesky could easily be a poe. OTOH, if he's concerned about Andrew's "hate for wealthy people" including Larry himself, he should recall that some religions equate wealth with sin ("And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God" - Matthew 19:24 KJV). I don't, but I don't think being wealthy makes anyone more deserving, either.

Regardless, there's no way to prevent rich people from getting richer solving problems that others haven't, so we might as well let them, as long as the real problems get solved without exacerbating others!

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What happens in India?

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same as everywhere else: Rich Indians stay cool, poor Indians suffer

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I went to India 35 years ago. The temperature reached 48 C. People were vomiting in the street including my wife.

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