What is the highest temperature that the human body can withstand?!

Weather of Arabia - With climate change causing a rise in temperatures all over the world, extreme heat has become more of a health threat to humans, and despite the human body’s flexibility and ability to adapt to rising temperatures, it will not be able to withstand a lot of heat, and this leads us to The question: What is the highest temperature that a person can withstand ?

Answer: It depends largely on the humidity. The highest temperature that the human body can withstand is between (34) to (36.5) degrees Celsius on the wet-bulb indicator, and this temperature differs from the recorded and announced temperature. , measured with a thermometer covered with a cloth dampened with water, and takes into account heat, humidity, and wind. The hygrometer is important because with more water in the air, sweat is more difficult to evaporate and the body's ability to cool itself is impaired.

Related Topics: What is the difference between recorded and perceived temperature?

The effect of air humidity on the highest temperature that the human body can withstand

If the humidity is low but the temperature is high, or vice versa, the wet pointer temperature probably will not approach the human body's tolerance point, but when both the humidity and the temperature are too high, the wet pointer temperature can rise to dangerous levels.

For example: When the air temperature is (46°C) and the relative humidity is 30%, the wet index temperature is only about (30.5°C). But when the air temperature is (38°C) and the relative humidity is 77%, the wet index temperature is around (35°C).

Related Topics: Why do we feel hotter with higher humidity?

When temperatures rise with high humidity, the body loses its ability to regulate its internal temperature, because the cooling mechanism no longer works, it can still sweat, but the sweat will not evaporate, and at this point, the body becomes very hot (more than 40 degrees Celsius), This can lead to serious symptoms such as a rapid heartbeat, change in mental status, decreased sweating, fainting, and even coma.

Related Topics: What can heat waves do to the human body?

However, reaching the dangerous temperature of the wet pointer (34 to 36.5 degrees Celsius) will not cause instant death; It can take up to 3 hours for this heat to become unsustainable, plus physical activity and exposure to direct sunlight increases the risk of overheating.

The risk of hyperthermia is greater for the elderly, and for people with certain health conditions such as obesity; People who take antipsychotics are unable to regulate their temperature normally, so it is easy for heat to kill them. That is why people sometimes die in heat below dangerous degrees.

Related topics: Why do the forty degrees kill hundreds in some countries of the world while the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula coexist with it?

Areas that have previously recorded dangerous temperatures

Few sites have reached the dangerous temperature on the wet index in recorded history. Since the late 1980s and 1990s, hotspots have been the Indus River Valley in central and northern Pakistan and the southern coast of the Persian Gulf .

And there are places that are already starting to record these temperatures for an hour or two during the day, and with global warming, this will become more frequent. The locations at risk of these dangerous temperatures in the next 30 to 50 years include northwestern Mexico, northern India, southeast Asia and western Africa.

Unfortunately, with climate change already taking place, the world will continue to warm a bit, even if greenhouse gas emissions stop today, and hopefully no more places will be added to that list.

Related topics:

- The normal human body temperature is not only 37 degrees.. How is that!

What is the highest and lowest temperature that the human body can reach?

- Can the Sahara desert green meadows again?

Why do mosquitoes make an annoying sound when approaching human ears?!