Parts of Italy could see highs of 48°C in the coming days stoking fears of an increase in heat-related deaths. Croatia, France, Greece, Spain and Turkey could also face temperatures of around 40°C.

sabbah@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 449 points –
Italy, Spain, Greece hit by scorching Cerberus heatwave
euronews.com
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Just a Sunday afternoon in Phoenix. Hope it's at least a dry heat there or they'll sail over wet bulb max easily, though I'm fairly sure southern Italy does get that hot in July.

The difference is, most people in Phoenix have air conditioners. The danger, aside from the heat itself, is that there is little refuge other than going to a place that does have AC, which isn't an option for everyone.

There a really good point. We take the AC for granted mostly, while it's an usual sight in many parts of Europe.

I mean it's mostly an unusual sight in parts of Europe because they don't need AC's, they need heating instead.

Most parts of Europe (that I've been to) where it gets hot have AC.

The trouble is that parts of Europe that didn't use to get hot now get hot, but still don't have AC. But that's mostly because of conservatism.

Why do Americans always believe that Europe is a homogeneous entity? ACs are rare in the north of Europe. But as an Spaniard currently living in the north of Italy, I can asure you that ACs are super common in both countries.

Part of it is ignorance. Part of it is scale. And part of it is our media (and anecdotal posts) saying that many Europeans (as a whole) don't have AC in their homes, which is why the heat waves are so dangerous. I'm sure it's annoying, but it's kind of like an American getting annoyed if a European only thought of the US as a whole and not per state, as states are comparable in autonomy and size to most European countries. I wouldn't expect you to know specifics - New York is very different than Florida, which is very different than Iowa, which is different than Alabama, which is very different than California, etc. Hell, the main regions of California alone are all very different from each other.

Since it's southern Italy, I think it's a given that the humidity will be high. This is going to pass right over "miserable" and on into "dangerous."

48 degrees Celsius (predicted temp) and 53% humidity (the humidity in Southern Italy today) is a wet bulb temperature of 38.52 degrees Celsius. In the danger zone.

Yeah, holy shit, that's really bad. A wet-bulb temperature above 32 C is considered unsafe for normal outdoor activity levels.