niina.amniisia » bits, pieces and photos from sydney, australia and elsewhere

it’s too hot (Thursday January 29th, 1998 - 00:00)

category: mmhuh?

There is probably some scientific explanation for all of this, but I’m hardly a scientist, and not so obsessed by this pondering to try and find references on the matter. The thing is, if you boil water and then keep the water at 100 degrees C, it will keep boiling. So if our natural core temperate is 37 degrees C (and our external, 36 degrees C), why is it that we can’t maintain a comfortable state if the air temperature is 36 degrees C?

Until the outside temperature reaches approximately 24 degrees C, I am comfortable, but if it starts to rise higher, then I start to stress.. I don’t like heat. Heat doesn’t like me. I start to sweat, or feel faint, tired, and basically horrible. I start to dream of building air conditioned domes over cities.

Admittedly I am of Scandinavian blood, so living in Sydney is probably at fault. My body is designed to maintain warmth in -30 degree chills, not to remain cool in +30 degree heat. There are people in Africa whose bodies can adjust to both high and low temperatures. So with core body temperatures similar all over the world, why isn’t our tolerance to external heat similar as well?

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