this post was submitted on 11 May 2024

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Mexico heat wave melts temperature records in 10 cities, including Mexico City (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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In San Luis Potosí at least four people died due to heat stroke and six more deaths are under investigation, according to local health services.

Ten cities in Mexico have registered record-high temperatures, including the capital, authorities said on Friday, amid a searing heat wave that has prompted blackouts nationwide and pushed the power grid to the brink.

In the normally temperate high-altitude capital of Mexico City, North America’s largest metropolis, thermometers on Thursday peaked at 34.3 degrees Celsius (93.7 degrees Fahrenheit), a tenth of a degree higher than the record hit just a month earlier.

Neighboring Puebla broke its previous record of 34.3 C — set in 1947 — when it reached 35.2 C on Thursday.

In San Luis Potosí, at least four people died due to heat stroke and six more deaths are under investigation, according to the San Luis Potosí Health Services. More than 40 people were hospitalized due to heat stroke-related symptoms.

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 3 months ago (1 children)

we're so fucked.

[+] [email protected] -8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (4 children)

As mammals go, we're probably pretty good in terms of the direct effects of heat. Humans are exceptional at dumping heat. We have sweat glands all over our body, little hair, and are among the physically-most-capable critters out there capable of sustained physical exertion in hot environments.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistence_hunting

Persistence hunting, also known as endurance hunting or long-distance hunting, is a variant of pursuit predation in which a predator will bring down a prey item via indirect means, such as exhaustion, heat illness or injury. Hunters of this type will typically display adaptions for distance running, such as longer legs, temperature regulation, and specialized cardiovascular systems.

Humans are some of the best long distance runners in the animal kingdom; some hunter gatherer tribes practice this form of hunting into the modern era. Homo sapiens have the proportionally longest legs of all known human species, but all members of genus Homo have cursorial adaptions not seen in more arboreal hominids such as chimpanzees and orangutans.

Persistence hunting can be done by walking, but with a 30 to 74% lower rate of success than by running or intermittent running. Further while needing 10 to 30% less energy, it takes twice as long. Walking down prey, however, might have arisen in Homo erectus, preceding endurance running. Homo erectus may have lost its hair to enhance heat dissipation during persistence hunting, which would explain the origin of a characteristic feature of the genus Homo.

We may not be super-fast. We're not poisonous. Our teeth aren't all that impressive, nor our "claws". But we are really good at keeping on going in extreme heat conditions.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 months ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature?wprov=sfla1 important caveat

[–] [email protected] -2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

There are limits, but we'll be outdoing pretty much everything out there in hot conditions.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 months ago

Good thing we don’t need to rely on any other species of either flora or fauna to survive.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 months ago

Yeah. That’s great for us. How well does our food handle the heat?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Counterpoint: not good enough for global warming!

I had the same opinion until recently. Wasn’t all that scared of heat until I read “The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet” by Jeff Goodell

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/63251778

That surprise ending aint looking all too good: https://xkcd.com/1732/

[–] brbposting 5 points 3 months ago

Never has it been so plainly explained as with that XKCD!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

Wait until wet bulb temp

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 months ago

Goodbye wild axolotls 😞 (Among all the other bad from this)

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago

I was just in Mexico city this past week

When I was waiting for my flight to come home I tried to find cold water. None of the coolers at any of the stores in terminal B were keeping the water cool at all

All of the chocolate in the 7-11 was melted. It was surreal.

No AC in the airport and it was so hot. This was at 8-11pm when you think it sound stay cooling down.

The rest of the trip was fine, it felt pretty hot but not any hotter then summer usually feels further north. Then again, it's not summer yet...

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Any lemmings in Mexico that can speak to the experience of this?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

in cdmx. Can confirm it was hot. Pretty dry here right now, though, so if you were out of the sun it was okay.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

How is the vegetation? Dry? High fire risk often associated with this kind of weather.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

oh mmm I just mean this week during those hot days was quite dry. In general seems okay I think? And we should be hitting rainy season pretty soon here. But I'm pretty city-bound, and I think the places that would probably be affected by this more are a bit north, so could definitely be issues I'm less aware of.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Ten cities in Mexico have registered record-high temperatures, including the capital, authorities said on Friday, amid a searing heat wave that has prompted blackouts nationwide and pushed the power grid to the brink.

The intense heat caused blackouts lasting several hours in some areas of Mexico this week, mainly in the north, and caused classes to be suspended in the central state of San Luis Potosi, which this week reached 50 C.

Human-caused climate change and El Nino have been pushing up temperatures worldwide and causing deadly heat waves.

Mexico’s electricity system regulator issued several alerts this week as demand in some parts of the country exceeded supply.

Business chambers and sector analysts criticized the blackouts, accusing the government of not investing in energy transmission networks or in sufficient generation to cover demand.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who leaves office in October, described the blackouts as “exceptional” and assured that Mexico has sufficient generation capacity.

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