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188

At least 40 people drown in France as 43C heatwave sweeps across country (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 1 day ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

43 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Much of France was set to experience temperatures of around 40C on Tuesday, after records were shattered on Monday

Forty people have drowned in France over the past days as they sought to cool down to escape record heat, the prime minister said on Tuesday, as a heatwave swept across much of Europe.

Speaking ahead of an emergency meeting on the heatwave, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said: "A sad scourge when it comes to drownings, as the latest figures just reported to us show 40 deaths since June 18, most of them young people."

Across France, people have been jumping into canals and rivers to cool off. French sports minister Marina Ferrari said she understood the urge to escape the heat but warned against swimming in unauthorized or dangerous areas.

top 43 comments

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[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

okay, that sounds like a very low and very high number of drownings at the same time. quick and dirty analysis. 40 deaths due to one cause in one day is alarming even when your metropolitan population is 66 million. Normally there are 1,000 drowning deaths per year. Ish. That's 1/25th the budgeted drownings for the country in a single [time period oopsie misread the article. maybe 5 days? point still stands]. Like, 40 is a small absolute number but per capita per [short time period] it's a LOT.

hence the government emergency meeting.

[–] BlindPenguin@lemmy.world 25 points 19 hours ago

[–] Jubei_K_08@lemmy.world 29 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

Anyone read The Ministry For The Future? There's a horrifying wet-bulb event that occurs in the book. It happens in India. People just dying by the hundreds, stewing in any water they can find to cool off. It's looking very likely to occur this century. In the book, this causes some changes, some of which are implemented very aggressively. Sad to think it may be the only way people get on board with fixing this stuff.

[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 25 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

People are already dying in droves in India while Modi stubbornly insists climate change isn't real.

[–] liuther9@lemmy.world 11 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Climate change is not real but god is. Lol

[–] TronBronson@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Amen 🙏

[–] Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 19 hours ago

The part mentioning the water was no cooler than the warm air but people still jumped in believing they were getting some relief was really heavy. The only way to convince those in power of the threat global warming poses is if it happens in a place like the Hamptons or Beverly Hills.

[–] mereo@piefed.ca 60 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's hard to believe that it's now cooler in Morocco than in France.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 29 points 1 day ago

Holy fuck but yes. My home city is cooler than France and I'm from a fucking desert. This is insane.

[–] theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Climate change is totally not a problem guys its totally fine.

[–] TronBronson@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Especially because we don’t need food and food like growing up in XTREME climates.

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 22 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Yeah maybe don't jump straight into unknown water. Walk in slowly from the edge if it's possible, if not perhaps find another entry point to start from. For rivers swim up stream to explore it so if the current gets stronger you are just pushed back to your starting point.

[–] Bohne93@feddit.org 14 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Please translate to french

[–] Redjard@reddthat.com 3 points 9 hours ago

Si maeibuel douinout joumpe sraeight ointou uoaeinounouwen aoquoa.

[–] tomiant@piefed.social 7 points 20 hours ago

Je suis Napoleon, du France!

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Je suis m'apelle.

[–] Brummbaer@pawb.social 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Bonjour m'appelle je suis Dad.

[–] magnue@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Cwasson

[–] perviouslyiner@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

À l'eau - c'est l'heure.

[–] vivalapivo@lemmy.today -3 points 1 day ago

Je te hais et j'espère que tu mourras dans d'atroces souffrances.

[–] Jubei_K_08@lemmy.world 4 points 21 hours ago

Mettez l'eau en vous. Ne vous mettez pas dans l'eau.

[+] errer@lemmy.world -27 points 23 hours ago (4 children)

40C is 104F, which on its own doesn’t feel that hot to me. It must be humid too I’m guessing.

[–] systemglitch@lemmy.world 34 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Lol,, 40°C is insanely hot for humans. Everything over 30 is super hot, over 35 is dangerous.

Add humidity to that and expect people to die from the heat alone.

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

It really depends on what you're acclimated to. I lived on a farm throughout high school, so I got to build fence lines and pock crops all day long in triple digits (F) with over 90% humidity (my region is technically a rainforest).

But I was used to the weather; I grew up in it. I'm definitely not going to criticize anyone who hasn't had to deal with it on a regular basis, especially when no one has AC.

[–] Ross_audio@lemmy.world 9 points 8 hours ago

You're simply wrong about your own experience there.

At 90% humidity and 100 F the heat index is 176 F which is astronomical.

A heat index at 125 F is lethal to any human being eventually..at 176 F you're dead in 15 minutes.

Either the temperature was lower, the humidity was lower.

Lots of people take the temperature high point they see and the humidity high point they see on the weather forecast and assume they happen at the same time. That's generally not the case.

So people say "it was 100 degrees and 90% humidity",, when actually it was only 50% humidity at the hottest part of the day and something like 80 degrees when humidity was 90% in the evening.

Everyone's guilty of this. They've experienced a really hot and humid day, they then tell the story with the 2 highest numbers because it felt really hot.

It's an accidental embellishment and ultimately leads some people to die of heat stroke as "they've worked through worse" in their own mind when the warnings come in with numbers they think they've experienced before but haven't in reality.

[–] rwrwefwef@sh.itjust.works 3 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Above 100F is where it's considered critical, where the body can no longer dissipate heat through the environment.

[–] Kage520@lemmy.world 8 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Won't this be related to the humidity/wet bulb temp?

[–] JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 3 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

That, but ultimately it's about time. Like how 100C water gives you a burn instantly, but so does 40C, if you sit in it for 8 hours.

If your body can't cool itself, you will eventually overheat and die. And the limit for a certain death (eventually) is 35C (95F) wet bulb - at that point even a perfectly healthy person at rest produces enough heat to bring their core temp to over 43C and die.

[–] village604@adultswim.fan -1 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

Acclimation plays a huge role in it.

[–] TronBronson@lemmy.world 3 points 1 hour ago

Bro I worked farms in Nebraska in the summer, you’re mistaking health and youth for acclimation

[–] Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago

Not at that point.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 12 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

43C is 109F, which is what the headline says.

[–] errer@lemmy.world -3 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Ah was reading the body of the post, which says “around 40C.” 109 sucks but it’s still bearable if it’s not humid. Humidity with that temp is what makes it a killer.

[–] LittleBorat3@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Europe is humid, it's not a desert yet. It's not like Arizona with dry heat or whatever you are imagining.

[–] Nouvellalia@lemmy.world 17 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

What you're saying is true, but only under specific circumstances. If you're conditioned for it and you take precautions, if this is your daily, it's doable. 109 with very low humidity, a nice breeze, in the shade, with dessert clothing, and a healthy supply of clean water, is ez if you are used to it and know what to do.

If you aren't used to it, or don't know what to do, or it's 40% humidity, or there is no shade and you're letting the sun hit your skin, etc, will easily kill you. This is France my man. Not wherever you're from. These temps, just hitting the normal vegetation will ensure the humidity is unbearable. Much less everything else.

[–] leagman1@feddit.org 2 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

Oh.. 40% is where it starts getting dangerous already? I assumed that's low humidity.

[–] Pofski@lemmy.world 7 points 21 hours ago

humidity in france is normally between 65% and 95%

[–] Nouvellalia@lemmy.world 4 points 21 hours ago

Tbh with you I think it's lower than that when the temps are over 100, much less over 110. However, I don't know the exact number. I think it depends on other factors. In a situation where we're talking about regular folks having to do several specific things to survive, humidity easily breaks our little scenario.

I can tell you that I'm from the swamp. I can do up to around 103 with humidity over 70% but the cone for survival begins to narrow dramatically above 95. In the desert with humidity at 14%, I was completely fine at 110 even in the sun for periods of time. Like, I thought it was in the high 80s.

But, I can sweat gallons as long as I have water. That's what my body is conditioned to do. In the actual, ancient desert, without constant access to water, I'm dead. I assume most people can't just sweat two gallons a day, drink two gallons and eat some spicy food, and be ok tomorrow again. I also assume actual desert natives handle 110 different than me too, in a more desert sustainable way.

If we're talking about bare survival of a healthy or generationally conditioned person, able to do the right things, with access to everything they need, I think you're right 40% doesn't break things, but I assume none of those things apply in France.

[–] Kage520@lemmy.world 3 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

The AC situation in Europe is a little rough. I stayed in Paris in a niceish hotel and the AC could not keep up with the heat when I was there. It was maybe a 10 degree difference inside vs out, and the humidity did not drop much. This was 10 years ago so maybe more places have better ac now, but I don't think every place had AC then.

[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 7 points 12 hours ago

A 10 degree difference might not feel cold and comfy but it is absolutely life saving.

[–] BlindPenguin@lemmy.world 4 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Depends on the country and the region within. The further you move south, the more ACs you'll see. Up until recently, there wasn't a reason for countries north of italy to have AC everywhere.

[–] TronBronson@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Ya we had to do that here in Maine about 10 years ago.

[–] dudeface@lemmy.world 3 points 20 hours ago

It’s relative, Europe live in buildings meant to keep the heat in made of brick or concrete where as where you live probably has bungalows made of timber suited to the climate in your area