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'Unprecedented heat': Iran begins two-day nationwide shutdown amid soaring temperatures (www.cnbc.com)

submitted 2 years ago by stopthatgirl7@kbin.social to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml

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The two-day shutdown comes at a time of record-breaking extreme heat across the globe, with July poised to be the hottest month in history.

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[-] Lodra@programming.dev 45 points 2 years ago

Precedented

[-] MrFappy@lemmy.world 22 points 2 years ago

What do they mean “poised to be?” Its august 2nd.

[-] NevermindNoMind@lemmy.world 21 points 2 years ago

I'd imagine official verification and so forth is yet to come.

[-] RickyRigatoni@lemmy.ml 5 points 2 years ago

And August could be hotter.

[-] dunning_cougar@waveform.social 17 points 2 years ago

This is a climate catastrophe! If you still drive a petrol car, you are the problem! Those poor Iranians…

[-] Nibbler@lemmy.ml 39 points 2 years ago

Stop putting the blame on the individual when corporations easily account for over 70% of global emissions and pollution. My gas powered car isn't gonna change shit.

[-] echodot@feddit.uk 6 points 2 years ago

This guy is a gigantic troll, look at his profile.

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[-] dunning_cougar@waveform.social 5 points 2 years ago

Your gas guzzler was manufactured by a big corporation. You chose to buy it and keep polluting with it.

[-] Nibbler@lemmy.ml 15 points 2 years ago

I shouldn't be made to feel guilty for living my life in this hellscape that were forced to live in. I'm not going to inconvenience myself and make own life harder while the elite fly around in private jets and are more wasteful in a day than I could ever be in my entire life. I care about the environment and want things to change, but I'm not the problem. And if you are trying to make the common person bare the guilt for climate change, you're part of the problem. I do what I can when I can. But to inconvenience myself or spend more of what little money I have to make a negligible difference compared to what a corporation or a single billionaire could do is not gonna happen. Simple as that.

[-] dunning_cougar@waveform.social 7 points 2 years ago

We are all collectively guilty and we will collectively pay the price. Every little decision we make today echoes far into the future,. Being conscious of our mistakes can lead to better habits. Inaction is no longer enough, we mmdemand positive corrective action today! No one is perfect, but it is an option to live without a vehicle. Billions of people manage to live without the convenience of personal transportation. It is a privilege not a right.

[-] echodot@feddit.uk 7 points 2 years ago

Okay are you going to buy me an electric car then?

The thing about being a radical is that you actually have to do something, not just spout bullshit online.

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[-] BeardedBlaze@lemmy.world 25 points 2 years ago

You're trolling, right? Can't possibly be this delusional...

[-] Treatyoself@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago

It appears, the username, does check out.

[-] dunning_cougar@waveform.social 7 points 2 years ago

Unbelievable. The data is right in front of you. Not hard to analyze. You don’t need to process high temperatures!

[-] lightstream@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago

Those poor Iranians

I suggest you try to analyse the data. Iranians have a very high energy usage per capita - at least as high as any EU country and probably higher. The country is a major oil and gas producer, and the population is accustomed to cheap petrol prices due to heavy subsidisation by the government. You won't find many Iranians opting to use public transport for the good of the environment. Like Americans, they would rather sit in their own air-conditioned vehicles in interminable traffic jams.

[-] tetris11@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 years ago

You won't find many Iranians opting to use public transport for the good of the environment.

Lack of choice and potential lobbying from the car industry might also be factors here. I can't imagine anyone who would drive if there was cheap and plentiful public transport available.

Like Americans, they would rather sit in their own air-conditioned vehicles in interminable traffic jams.

I'd say the same for the Americans. A century of pro-car policy removes the illusion of choice.

[-] dunning_cougar@waveform.social 2 points 2 years ago

Um, excuse you, the climate catastrophe is a GLOBAL phenomenon! We are collectively guilty for killing our mother. Are you a Zionist agent, gaslighting us with anti-Iran propaganda? How are they supposed to switch to renewals when their economy is crushed by US sanctions at the behest of Israel???

[-] kn0wmad1c@programming.dev 21 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Big yikes. As long as the grid that you plug your EVs into is based off of fossil fuels, you're not solving anything.

[-] bluGill@kbin.social 22 points 2 years ago

My grid is based off of wind. Yours could be too. Demand it, importantly demand the laws that allow it be built . Many areas have outlawed them, or may as well because of all the red tape. They are standard these days and so permits should be shall issue in request for a standard design.

[-] CmdrShepard@lemmy.one 15 points 2 years ago

I switched to paper straws so I think that makes me carbon neutral now.

[-] dunning_cougar@waveform.social 2 points 2 years ago

Great! Every bit helps!

[-] Blapoo@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 years ago

Good point, I'll just commute 2 hours both ways by bike then. Thanks for your contribution. /s

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[-] 5in1k@lemm.ee 7 points 2 years ago

I’m not going to have kids so I feel like I can drive whatever because my carbon footprint ends with me. I’m also fairly fatalistic about climate change. Humans are too stupid to stop it and when enough of us die the problem will solve itself.

[-] bzxt@lemmy.ml 16 points 2 years ago

The main culprits are the big oil companies. They made the carbon footprint term to make us feel guilty and shift the blame from the biggest polluters.

[-] r3nder@beehaw.org 11 points 2 years ago

Yep! And I bet it'll turn out in a few decades that it will come out they were also behind the Doomerism we're seeing a lot of on social media these days. "Well it's too late so why try?" Is much more comfortable than "We have to sacrifice a lot of comfort, but if we all try really hard we can do it."

Weird thought, you ever think oil executives have nightmares about a global collective wanting to bring them to the guillotine?

[-] argv_minus_one@beehaw.org 2 points 2 years ago

They made the decisions that got us here, they have the power to turn this around, but we are to sacrifice everything while they continue to live in luxury and do nothing to help? Does this seriously seem reasonable to you?

[-] negativeyoda@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

The main culprit is likely the US military, except that they don't allow themselves to be monitored.

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[-] mashbooq@infosec.pub 6 points 2 years ago

Most pollution from cars comes from the tires, not the gas burning. If you drive any car at all, you're the problem

[-] bluGill@kbin.social 17 points 2 years ago

Citation needed.. tires are a problem, but gasoline is farm worse pollution overall. Unless you cherry pick pollutant.

[-] Zorque@kbin.social 7 points 2 years ago

I believe most of the microplastics that are in everything we consume come from car tires. So probably less a climate change problem, but still an issue.

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[-] 10A@kbin.social 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

[removed by mod]

[-] fiat_lux@kbin.social 81 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

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 15 points 2 years ago

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 2 years 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.

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[-] NevermindNoMind@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago

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.

[-] polarpear11@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years 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.

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[-] storm@lemm.ee 4 points 2 years ago

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.

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[-] Zorque@kbin.social 18 points 2 years ago

You think that's hot, you should see the center of the sun! Now that's hot!

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[-] NevermindNoMind@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

I was kind of surprised, where I am those are pretty normal temperatures, not for weeks on end but it can hit like that for a few days in a row. We're expecting higher temperatures this weekend.

Many Iranian cities and towns have suffered from temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Degrees Fahrenheit) in recent days, while the oil-rich southwestern city of Ahvaz hit 50 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. [122F]

The capital city of Tehran experienced temperatures of 39 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.

I just checked and their nightly lows are in the high 80sF so that sucks for sure. That 122F high is bonkers though, that's pushing death valley territory. But overall it's not worse than Arizona has been going through for like more than a month, highs above 110 and lows in the 90s. Greece's heatwave seems like it is about on par to what Iran is going through, and I don't remember hearing about them shutting down the country, just limiting outdoor work and deliveries during peak heat hours.

But like you said, A/C might be a difference maker. I don't know what Iran's climate control availability is like, and this article didn't say.

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