34
votes
Despite it still being spring in Brazil, temperatures reach 35-40 degrees Celsius almost every day in dangerous heatwave
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/summer-brazil-dangerous-heat-wave-sweeping-country-104919438
Today the temperature in Rio was 35C (95F), which feels like 44C (112F). It is humid in the streets, and unbearable to be out. A girl has died at a Taylor Swift concert, where the temperatures within the concert venue reached 60C(140F).
A personal comment from someone who lives in São Paulo, we already got temperatures of 35 degrees in early October, just a week or 2 removed from Winter. In that heatwave, record numbers of people (including some of my classmates) used the heatwave as a good excuse to go to the beach, but that's pretty much the only silver lining to something that's evidently caused by human industry managing to reach the "turn back within 5 years or else" stage of Climate Change. Europe has been recording 30 degree heat in temperate zones like Germany and 40 degrees in Semi-Arid Spain nearly every summer now. I get the impression that South America is the same and this will be our new normal now, for decades to come.
The worst part is that cities like São Paulo are prone to creating massive heat islands that culminate in even more tortuous conditions, which is a problem that could be solved with smart urban planning, vegetation, and so on.
Recently I've read something about São Paulo's municipal government uprooting trees from parks for a number of dumb reasons, ranging from poorly thought out makeovers of public spaces to curtailing "public indecency".
Besides, the trees themselves are often poorly maintained, and in windy conditions, they present a risk to property and life. The solution? Chop them.
Add all of these factors together, throw in São Paulo's aging, poorly maintained electrical infrastructure, flood-prone streets, and you have a 3 day long blackout, during the hottest days of the year, meaning you have no fans or air conditioning, with heat emanating from the ground making it all so much worse.
Stay safe! (A quick housekeeping note, since Tildes has users around the world it's always helpful to include units when discussing measurements including temperature.)
I mean... it's not like the "still uses Fahrenheit" club is particularly big. And IMO it's pretty obvious from context that Kuromantis was referring to Celsius, given 35-40℉ (just above freezing) wouldn't exactly qualify as a heatwave anywhere but the Arctic and Antarctica. :P
I mean you're not wrong, but I usually favor "let's always state units for maximum inclusivity and clarity" over "let's assume all readers are part of the majority group." Not trying to be contentious or derail, if that's unclear.
Yeah, good point. I agree that it's best to try to be inclusive. So I have edited to title to add Celsius to it.
Worth noting that at least as of 2020, Tildes was majority US-based (which is not to say that everyone must adhere to US customs).
To save those suffering from fahrenheit a trip to the calculator, 35-40C is 95-104F.
Tildes is headquartered in Canada though.
30 is hot
20 is nice
10’s a bit chilly
0 is ice.
The thing that haunts me about news stories like this is that, in a few decades, we'll look back on articles like this and think, "That was considered newsworthy?"
We are shocked today, but our future selves will look back on this time with nostalgia and miss how stable the weather was.