This is not the post I meant to write. That one has succumbed temporarily to the infernal heat. To quote myself from elsewhere,
Heat wave. Surely medical science knows that in this kind of heat brain cells pool in your ankles. Heat rises, brain cells are smart.
A heatwave has painted the American weather map in yellow-orange-red zones coast-to-coast. And it endures like a biblical curse. This has real effects on flora and fauna, me and you.
This June turned out to be the fourth-hottest month ever recorded—globally… With more heat waves on the horizon, and a big one currently sweeping much of the U.S., the risk of heat-related health problems has also been on the rise. How Does a Heat Wave Affect the Human Body?, Scientific American
It’s not hard to find heat-wave mortality rates and even stats on heat-related hospitalizations. But there doesn’t appear to be much literature on the cognitive deficits inflicted by prolonged heat. And I’ve got ’em.
You may live an air-conditioned life. Where I live there are 3 window air conditioners and nothing on the first floor where cooking, eating and laundry get done. Even Hercule Poirot’s little grey cells would lose their edge.
Mine have gone flaccid as a Dali watch. And it’s funny to joke about but unnerving to discover that the sharpness of your mind is unavailable.
Hence this post. Until the heat relents and I can more nimbly juggle this notion, that image and 3 oranges without mishap I will be posting tidbits — but no reasoned arguments.
It’s too darn hot.
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Heat wave risks.
Obviously there are thresholds for both temperature and humidity above which we see an increase in death, and it’s going to be a different temperature in Phoenix than it’s going to be in Chicago. Scientific American, op. cit.
I’m not suggesting that you or I are at immanent risk of death-by-heat-wave. But even healthy specimens need to keep hydrated, children and older people more than others. The effects of heat accumulate — meaning the body’s stress mechanisms get increasingly taxed. Please take good care.
And we should start taking the stressed-brain stupidity factor more seriously. We’re not incapacitated, but the IQ’s shaved.
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To understand your own predicament match your location’s current temperature with its humidity rating.
NOAA Heat Index Chart via Wikipedia
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“This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around.”
from Life During Wartime, by the Talking Heads
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look further:
Heat waves
- Heat wave NOAA online brochure
- Heat wave on Wikipedia
Talking Heads
- Stop Making Sense — the movie. Via HERR Herbert on YouTube. O how I love this video.
- Talking Heads
- Talking Headlines