XReadiness Fails To Address Wet Bulb Temperatures (WBT) A Major Risk to Human Life
The Original XReadiness Document can be downloaded here
Emergency planning documents like this require guidance and leadership because they are being fed into a culture which doesn’t have any survival skills experience, and the current leadership within XR and the associated groups like Just Stop Oil, Climate Majority Project and the Green Party lack the expertise and experience to provide that leadership or understanding survivalism in depth.
Preparedness coupled with survival skills sadly has a poor reputation for being dominated by right wing climate deniers stacking up their tinned food reserves and weapons while voting Reform and grifting on YouTube.
XReadiness document should have been advertised as a cooperatively produced document, so that a wider group of more survival skilled and experienced activists could contribute and make it more relevant to the Climate Emergency and families wanting understand adaptation and climate risk.
The XReadiness document starts from the premise that we are on the brink of global catastrophe:
“We are on the brink of a global catastrophe. Life on Earth is in danger, with scientists agreeing that we are entering a period of climate and ecological breakdown. Our climate is changing faster than predicted and the stakes are high. Wildfires. Rising sea levels. Crop failure. Social and ecological collapse. Mass extinction. The symptoms of our inaction will only worsen the longer we take to address the causes of this crisis.”
This is inaccurate, we are already in the midst of the Climate Catastrophe, and the collapse of this oil civilisation. What will occur in time is a great simplification. This sophisticated complex civilisation is crumbling due to overshoot and ecological collapse. We need to remind ourselves that we need to #tellthetruth about the climate emergency, however difficult and anxiety inducing it is. I am always amazed at the raw courage of those around me who accept collapse, talk collapse and do so with compassion and love. This isn’t doomer talk, this is what it’s like when you understand our predicament.
The XReadiness document uses confused wording: “This guide is designed to provide individuals, families, and communities with essential knowledge and practical steps to increase resilience in the face of climate-related crises and other societal disruptions. The climate crisis is not a distant threat. It is already shaping our world through extreme weather, infrastructure stress, economic instability, and ecosystem collapse. Events like heat waves, droughts, floods, and storms are becoming more intense and frequent, putting stress on both the environment and all its inhabitants.”
We are either on the brink of, or in the midst of climate chaos.
Heatwaves?
“The content is rooted in official sources such as the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB), but also incorporates wider survival knowledge and climate science.”
While Norway has experienced high air temperatures during heatwaves, there is no available evidence that it has reached critical, life-threatening Wet Bulb Global Temperature Thresholds of 30-32C. However the UK during the 2022 heatwave notably reaching a high of around 32C. While dry bulb temperature was recorded breaking 40C, the high humidity meant a significant portion of the heat couldn’t be dissipated by sweat leading to increased heat stress. The Wet Bulb Temperature is a measure of how effectively humans can cool themselves through sweating.
40C air temperature is easier to tolerate in a dry climate, the high humidity in the UK during heatwaves makes it difficult for the body to cool down. The combination of high level of moisture (humidity) saturation in the atmosphere and high temperatures combine to reduce the body capacity for evaporative cooling.
Future projections indicate climate chaos is increasing the frequency and intensity of Wet Bulb (WBT) (humid heat) events in the UK, making the population more susceptible to heat stress.
“HEATWAVES & DROUGHTS
Heatwaves are becoming longer and more frequent, especially in regions unaccustomed to extreme heat. Indoor spaces should be shaded and ventilated. Use wet cloths, fans, or improvised cooling if air conditioning is unavailable. Conserve water proactively and store extra during heat events. Vulnerable groups (children, elderly, chronically ill) are at greatest risk. Prepare to check on and support them regularly. • Stay indoors during peak heat hours
• Wear light clothing
• Keep yourself hydrated
• Avoid intense activity”
The XReadiness document is inadequate even though it claims to be science based. It ignores key meteorological & physiological factors that impact human health and constitute a significant risk to human life across the globe.
Science based data sources the XReadiness document could have used:
Wet bulb temperature is the lowest temperature that can be achieved through evaporative cooling MET Office.
Heat stress occupational exposure limits (OELs) were developed in the 1970s to prevent heat-related illnesses (HRIs). The OELs define the maximum safe wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) for a given physical activity level. Pub Med Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 2019
The U.S. Army has a need for continuous, accurate estimates of the wet bulb globe temperature to protect soldiers and civilian workers from heat-related injuries Pub Med Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
Where it is assessed there may be an elevated risk of heat illness, commanders are to ensure that Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) monitors are readily available wherever possible and used correctly in order to inform the proactive and dynamic application of risk management procedures. WBGT readings alone should not be used as the only indicator of risk or as a go/no-go. They should be used as a tool to inform a commander’s own risk assessment. WBGT readings may rise quickly which could lead to a given activity continuing when it is no longer safe to do so. Therefore consideration should be given to checking WBGT periodically throughout an activity.
Written evidence submitted by the Ministry of Defence
This was following the deaths of 3 soldiers on the Brecon Beacons during a selection exercise. They died from dehydration and heat exhaustion. It is now mandatory for commanders to follow strict heat/ humidity exposure guideline
XReadiness Fails To Address Heat/Humidity risk, Let Alone Mention Wet Bulb Global Temperature Risk
By failing to address one of the biggest and most immediate risks to human life during the climate emergency, the XReadiness Document needs to be updated, though I doubt this will happen. I realise that understanding climate risk requires courage and difficult conversations about collapse and a strong stomach, because many of us are not going to survive. 8 billion people are not going through this bottle- neck. Collapsology, a branch of Human Geography and an extension of the study of hazardous environments which examines why humans choose to live in places prone to flooding, bush fires, earthquakes and volcanoes. Humans intentionally live in dangerous environments because they are often abundant. Today however due to overshoot and anthropogenic climate change, the entire planet is becoming hostile and an extremely hazardous environment and a lottery of what climate related horrors you will get, including fascism, because difficult times and extremist politics go together. Collapsology asks the difficult questions of the moment and the future.
A few years ago it was almost impossible to have collapsse conversations in XR groups or with climate activists because of the vilification of “doomers” and I have been told to tone it down because it puts people off from joining the fight. I have even been told that I was giving up. So I had those difficult conversations with Tristan, Lyle, Eliot, the late Michael D, Jordan and a few others. The one thing that I am certain about is that to get through what is coming will take skill, knowledge, each other and communities of mutual aid. What will get in the way is ideology, refusal to learn new skills and trying to cling on to the technology of the current world.
To understand what constitutes risk in a constantly changing environment like this climate crisis is to know what is happing and read deeply into it and ask difficult questions.
The UK Prepping community is a poor example of climate adaption skills. When they grift on YouTube announcing that they are voting Reform, hanging flags, hating JSO, BLM, Antifa and then claiming climate change is BS, you know they have nothing to teach us. This XReadiness looks like it was written by one of them because they deny that Wet Bulb Temperatures are even real or that in 2022 the MET Office recorded 40C.
The Wet Bulb Information Project #wbtip
I would like to thank Tristan Sykes & Kevin Hester for their moral support and encouragement in getting this project off the ground, into cyber space. I would also like to thank my sister for her advice and support
The Wet Bulb Information Project is a public health information project informed by peer-reviewed science & in some cases government policy. The UK MOD and US DOD use Wet Bulb Temperatures to ensure the safety of their staff and some contractors during high temperature/humidity meteorological events. It isn’t enough to just use the term “heatwave” anymore. This reflects poorly on the authors knowledge and I have to question their suitability for authoring such a document in a poly- crisis, which is why I suggested the XReadiness could have been collaborative effort involving more experienced survivalists and climate scientists.
The Wet Bulb Global Temperature Information Project Is a non-profit providing outreach and educational materials to help people make informed decisions about climate risk during heatwaves and potentially lethal weather.
Comments
Post a Comment