Many Iranian cities and towns have suffered from temperatures above 40°C /104°F in recent days, while the oil-rich southwestern city of Ahvaz hit 50°C/122°F on Tuesday.
- OP article

Here in Texas, the month saw several cities shatter heat records, with some parts of the state seeing sustained temperatures over 37°C/98.6°F for days on end.
- Thirsty and exhausted, Texans feel the heat - BBC posted 1 day ago

It is newsworthy hot in both places. The difference is, Iranians are getting some relief from their government instead of having their water breaks rescinded.

[–] GnuLinuxDude@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Texas is especially atrocious.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/us/texas-prisons-heat.html

The department operates 98 facilities, of which 31 are fully air-conditioned and 14 have no cooling at all. The rest have air-conditioning only in certain areas. The department has been adding air-conditioning each year and now has more than 43,000 “cool beds” — about a third of those in the system — according to Ms. Hernandez. The department has discussed plans to eventually air-condition all prisons at a projected cost of more than $1 billion, but still needs the funding.

OK, so most Texas prisons are only partially air conditioned. It's so hot that inmates feel like they're getting cooked. Even showers don't provide relief because the water which comes out is already warm to hot. It can't be worse than that, right? Oh wait...

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-prisons-water-price/269-19a555cc-1864-48cb-9ab5-356dae2c27bf

The current cost of bottled water is now $7.20 a case. Before, it was $4.80 a case. An individual bottle now costs $0.30 as opposed to $0.20.

As triple-digital heat continues, Dr. Amite Dominick with Texas Prisons Community Advocates pointed out that the price increase could not come at a worse time.

"Oftentimes, the primary breadwinner is the person who is incarcerated. So that's an additional financial strain, and then they are forced to purchase things like water," Dominick said.

The TDCJ pointed out that inmates still have access to non-bottled water at their units for free, but Dominick said many Texas prisons are old with outdated pipes.

"The tap water is filthy. It's simply filthy," Watson said.

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago

I considered touching on that, but the user's post history led me to conclude prisoners are not people they would choose to empathise with.

The situation for humans of all kinds is dire in the States, and prisoners are definitely exposed to some of the worst of it. How convenient for the rich that they are unlikely to experience the same consequences of crime as the poor.

[–] Aux@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Wtf is wrong with America?

[–] NevermindNoMind@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Oh no doubt there, fuck Texas. I thought Texas would be hotter, actually. I'm in CA and we're looking at 107 this weekend with some low 100s before and after, which isn't bad compared to the 4-5 days in July when it was north of 110. But we mandate water breaks and so forth, like the big government lovers we are. Again, I'd imagine the availability of AC plays a role, 100+ where I am is mostly fine, but 90 in the bay area where a lot of home don't have AC is a rougher.

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Gross. What's the night time temps for you like? And is it humid 100s or dry 100s usually in CA?

I sleep with a giant fan pointed at me in summer in Australia, but the A/C I have is way too power hungry to leave on overnight. My last apartment had no A/C, terrible insulation and would regularly get no cooler than 27°C/80°F at night in peak summer, it was awful.

[–] gothicdecadence@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Not who you asked but I'm in the desert area of SoCal, it's usually super dry (15-30% unless cloudy) and it's been consistently over 100 for a few weeks now. One of the absolute best things about California is that it always cools off at night, down into to the low 60s most of the summer and 70s during the peak. It can be really hard to dress for sometimes, especially since the sun is so much hotter here than other states I've been to. 105 with a real feel higher than that during the day, maybe 62 with a breeze at night, that's a huge temp variance lol. I appreciate it though, it could be like other places in the country and the world where it's not getting below 80 at night.

The most humid places in Cali are also usually much cooler, due to being near the beach. But it kinda comes out in the wash depending on the day haha. Most of my knowledge is SoCal though, NorCal might be a lot different. California is massive, with tons of different climates, so it's impossible to talk about it without being specific about locations.

[–] NevermindNoMind@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

You have it worse I promise, that sounds miserable. I'm in northern California, but what the other reply you got said is accurate here as well. Lows in the 60Fs (15C), maybe even the upper 50s, when it's really bad lows are in the mid 70s. Most days I have a fan in the window to cool things off overnight and even if not it gets cool enough that the AC won't work itself to death overnight. I get up early so open all the windows, fans everywhere, and I try to get my place down to 70f (21c), close it all up by 9am, then try to ride it out without ac until the lows drop again. Humidity is very low where I am too. This Sunday it's now saying 105 (41c) for a high and 66 (19c) for a low if that gives you an idea.

[–] polarpear11@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Texas is definitely hotter than that. I'm in Central texas, terrible drought right now and we've been seeing consistent 104f days for weeks. I think we had a few days that were 98f but it's been hotter than normal, even if just by a few degrees. My car always registers as 110f or above while driving. It's crazy.

[–] storm@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

High humidity will keep air temperatures low. If you want to compare cities in different biomes, it would be better to look at heat index values. I'm showing Ahvaz at 10% relative humidity right now, so the air temperature will be close to the heat index. In Houston, the air temperature can be 100, but with 50-60% humidity factored in, the heat index could top 122.

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

I struggle to find much difference between 42°C dry vs 35°C wet in terms of personal coping ability, for sure. Dry heat would always be my preference.

I think it's worth noting as well that in the article it lists 42°C as the temperature humans start to have things go wrong with their bodies. Both Texas and Iran are dangerously close to semi-regular 42°C, no matter the humidity. We're going to see lots of blue-collar workers forced into retirement, or worse, around the world pretty soon.