More die as Europe heatwave bites

News BBC

Two more people have died in Greece amid soaring summer temperatures that have brought forest fires and power outages to South-East Europe.

The temperature has already eased in Hungary, where some 500 people are estimated to have died as a result of the heatwave.

In Greece, hundreds of people have been evacuated from areas at risk from fires in the Peloponnese and on the holiday island of Cephallonia.



South-East Europe's heat and the UK's wet weather have both been blamed on changes in the jet stream - a seasonal band of air from the Atlantic that has taken a more southerly path across Europe this year.

Now this heat wave is getting stronger every year. I live in Slovenia, which is kind of north, close to the alps, and we still got temperatures of almost 40C (104F) in the cities. Other countries have recorder up to 45C (113F) in Bulgaria and Macedonia. There are many fires raging. Many annual harvests have been destroyed because of the heat and lack of rain. Thank god there was a storm few days ago here, so the temperatures have dropped a bit - but certain countries down the Balkans were not that lucky. And while we bake in extreme temperatures here, in England people are almost drowning in their homes. Yep - the balance of weather is extremly fecked up. I hate to imagine if the sun will get stronger every year.

My youngest daughter just got back from a trip to Italy, Greece and several other countries. Her first. She told me it was hot and there were big grasshoppers in Greece and Macedonia. This is the type of stuff the tourism department don't advertise.

We live in the Midwest part of the USA so hot is kind of the norm here. The buildings were built for the heat here. This is a funny statement, but I would venture a guess you know what I'm talking about now that you have experienced heat. You can feel the buildings retain the day's heat overnight. Your buildings just keep getting hotter and hotter due to the construction made for a colder climate.

Fall is not far away, just around 6-7 weeks so it will start to cool off again.

Originally posted by hinky
My youngest daughter just got back from a trip to Italy, Greece and several other countries. Her first. She told me it was hot and there were big grasshoppers in Greece and Macedonia. This is the type of stuff the tourism department don't advertise.

The grasshopers are probably due to the extreme hot winters and their eggs did not die during that period. But heat nobody did expect, so I think you ca not blame tourism advertising.

We live in the Midwest part of the USA so hot is kind of the norm here. The buildings were built for the heat here. This is a funny statement, but I would venture a guess you know what I'm talking about now that you have experienced heat. You can feel the buildings retain the day's heat overnight. Your buildings just keep getting hotter and hotter due to the construction made for a colder climate.

So you are used to temperatures of 40-45C (104-113F)? And you say, that the buildings are built that way? What do you mean by that - that they have a built in climate appliance or some other form of contruction. Anyway, I live in a apartment store building, at the very top floor, and it gets hot like hell in the afternoon. We have no climate applicanes here so it naturally gets hot. And no - it did not get this hot as far as I remember; this are record breaking numbers here and they are just getting higher...

come to Australia for Xmas and a few months after.

weather in the mid 40's for a week or two is quite common during our heatwaves over here.

of course a cold snap would kill off a lot of aussies... we consider anything below 20c cold weather

unfortunately with temp's like that power outages due to everyone cranking up the A/C + fans and sometimes due to bushfires affecting powerlines are common, and a small spark can cause massive uncontrollable bush fires + elderly suffering medical problems like dehydration or heatstroke from not wanting to turn on the A/C for fear of the powerbill is also a common occurence.






[edit on 26/7/07 by Obliv_au]

Originally posted by Souljah
So you are used to temperatures of 40-45C (104-113F)?

That is extremely hot, I think the only place in the U.S. that gets up that high on a regular basis is the desert southwest. I think in the over 10 years I've lived in New York City it's gotten to 104F only one day. Even Florida doesn't usually get that hot.

Try to stay cool Souljah.

[edit on 7/26/2007 by djohnsto77]

That's hot...it got that hot here in SE Washington for a few days earlier this month. That was plenty...this European heat wave has been going for quite a lot longer than that.

Stay cool, Souljah. Autumn is coming...

Originally posted by djohnsto77
That is extremely hot, I think the only place in the U.S. that gets up that high on a regular basis is the desert southwest. I think in the over 10 years I've lived in New York City it's gotten to 104F only one day. Even Florida doesn't usually get that hot.

Tell me about it. Especially when I go to work with my bike in the middle of the day, and I usually arrive sweaty (when driving on concrete, the temperatures get a little bit higher then recorded) to a climated enviroment at my work, when the A/C is at full speed and the difference in temperature is almost 10 degrees. And then you get cold while working. Not very good for health. I hate to think what would happen if the A/C devices stopped working in the offices surrounded by computers and monitors in the middle of the day in the heat wave.

Try to stay cool Souljah.

I shall. Thanks!

Originally posted by Souljah
So you are used to temperatures of 40-45C (104-113F)? And you say, that the buildings are built that way? What do you mean by that - that they have a built in climate appliance or some other form of contruction. Anyway, I live in a apartment store building, at the very top floor, and it gets hot like hell in the afternoon. We have no climate applicanes here so it naturally gets hot. And no - it did not get this hot as far as I remember; this are record breaking numbers here and they are just getting higher...

Yeah hinky is spot on. Take the homes built in the SW portion of the US, not the McMansion BTW. Usage of thick wall construction, roofing material, color schemes and window direction are all factored on when building in warmer weather climates. The contra positive is used when building in cooler weather environments. Take your comment on "climate appliances". I assume you mean, what we Yanks would call, an Air-conditioning Units. Down here in Georgia you almost never see window mounted A/C units, but I see the everywhere up in Chicago. My aunt and uncle in southern Michigan do not even have an A/C unit. They simply do not need it like we do. In Georgia the preferred method is central air.

BTW djohnsto77 I have lived in Florida a few years. The temp in South Florida is evil hot. And it ain’t the dry heat! lol Our EU friends seem to forget that the Southern portions of the US are the same latitude as North Africa and the Mid East....granted we got the whole gulf stream and such. Hell even NYC is the same lat. as Southern Italy and Spain

Just a thought Temp is recorded in the shade there, right?

Anyway Stay cool Souljah! watch out for heat stroke. I always know I have heat stress when my cheeks get real red. Drink plenty of water!

I lived in Florida for most of my life, and while very hot, I don't remember it going significantly over 100F very often. Certainly not up to 113F.

from the link above select "highest maxium" and also "12months"

i feel for ya souljah, your probably not used to heat waves of such calibre eh?
that'd explain why its knocking ppl around so hard according to your report.

keep them windows + blinds closed during the day, but crack em right open at night to let the heat out and fresh air in..

i love summer nights.

I live in Texas, thats pretty much the norm temperature wise, however this summer, it won't stop raining so we dont' have to worry about grasshoppers.

Thanks for all the tips!

But I think we have a much bigger problem here then the design of buildings we live in, since this is not the kind of enviroment, where temperatures like this are normal in the summer. And it is pretty much obvious that the summer jetstrem is out of balance, since the cold air from the north does not reach the Southern Europe and it stops at the Alps, and the VERY warm air from North Africa remains here for a longer period of time then it used to. Which means, less rain for us and more sun - but more rain for countries of Northern and Western Europe and less sun for them. Now I really love the sun, but I am not used to such heat in the city. It is much better to take a walk to the nearest woods or a park and sit out the heatwave in the nice shadow of a tree and a cold beer in your hand.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
I lived in Florida for most of my life, and while very hot, I don't remember it going significantly over 100F very often. Certainly not up to 113F.

It gets that hot during August, until probably last year anyways. Don't remember hearing about people dying. I thought it was normal moving here in Jan. 2001.

Why do so many people die from the heat in Europe?

Originally posted by IgnoranceIsntBlisss
Why do so many people die from the heat in Europe?

It might have something to do with the fact they do not have air conditioning, and being old in these temps can be quite dangerous.

I'm really feeling sorry for all the people experiencing the heatwave. Here in the Netherlands we have had lots of rain this year and I wish I could send some of it your way to cool your countries down.

Now as to why people die from the heat in Europe. First of all the parts of Europe where this heat is quite uncommon, the houses aren't adjusted to this kind of tempratures. In other words; no airco, windows to the south etc. Some even have skylights, which turns your house into an oven.

Next to that, especially the elderly die in heatwaves. Of course they are more likely to have special conditions that cause an extra risk. But also a lot of old people have no thirst feelings. Especially people with dementia or parkinson tend to forget to drink.

Third reason is that our bodies are just not used to these tempratures. Now if your young and healthy than you will ajust. But if you have a condition like heartproblems,astma or diabetes, you are less likely to be able to adjust.

Juliet

Hey souljah, what was the temps during 2004 and 2005 compared to the last 2 years?

The past 2 years down here havent been quite as hot nor have there been hardly any hurricanes compared to 04-05.

I just seen another report that "Global Warming" is causing more hurricnes and tropical storms but I havent seen it these past 2 years. I suppose the season isnt ove rhere yet but those years were already rocking by this time of the year.

Originally posted by andy1033

Originally posted by IgnoranceIsntBlisss
Why do so many people die from the heat in Europe?

It might have something to do with the fact they do not have air conditioning,

Here in the Midwest US--I live in SE Michigan--many larger cities have "cooling" centers during the summer for the poor and old: public buildings where you can cool off during the day.
The same goes for "warming" centers during the winter.

In countries where there is not much air conditioning, these HOT days can be difficult to say the least.
Souljah, I lived in an upper flat with no fan one summer long ago, and it was a normal summer. I spent several evenings in the bath tub to cool off.
Not something I envy you about, I hope the weather breaks for you soon.

In 1988 in SE Michigan, we had about 10 days of no rain, and 100 degree-F weather. It sucked.

This year we have had several 90+F days, and expect more this week. We've had virtuall NO RAIN this July.
The western US has had many 100+f days this year, so the weird weather patterns are on this side of the world as well.




[edit on 30-7-2007 by DontTreadOnMe]