Comments on: 130 Degrees in the Shade

By: DL

DL — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:14:21 +0000

I do recall in 1953, on the way to Korea -going through the Suez Canal when a thermometer in front of the cool, outside, forced air vent in our boileroom read 122 degrees. Behind the boiler was near unlivable - even for a few short minutes as hot air filled and seared your lungs. The metal rails down there would burn an ungloved hand. We survived -though I was many years younger then. The upside was that officers conducting inspections -straight from their air conditioned quarters would turn and run as soon as they felt the heat -We always passed those uninspected inspections.

By: Boyd

Boyd — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 13:31:39 +0000

...some standing out in the middle of the Empty Quarter just to measure the temperature.

I suppose that's no worse than any other reason to go to ar Ruba' al Khali. But it never seems like anyone has a good reason to go there, outside of books and movies.

By: mrbill

mrbill — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 15:33:57 +0000

This effect is part of the Global Warming nonsense. The old line temp sensors in use for years in the little wooded ventilated boxes set out around the ocuntry are now located next to buildings, on asphalt, next to air conditioning compressors and outflows...all of which skew the entire temp grid. There are several sites with pics of these temp sensors now surrounded by man made stuff where they used to be out in a field especially set up to avoid the man made heat island affect.

By: Consul-At-Arms

Consul-At-Arms — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 06:03:45 +0000

As noted in comments above, several points:

body armor is only a part of deployed soldier's burden;

airy, open areas tend to not be where you find live soldiers living/working.

My personal thermometer, dogtag-sized, attached to the zipper-pull of my Franklin-Covey planner, and originally-purchased from (now defunct) Appalachian Outfitters of Vienna, Va registered 132 degrees Fahrenheit on at least one occasion I recall at TAA Hound, Iraq.

By: John Burgess

John Burgess — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 05:55:51 +0000

Another problem with assessing the temperatures is that the official meteorological groups in the Persian Gulf region (including Iraq) are government entities. Governments have laws or regulations that prohibit laborers from working when the outside temperature exceeds a certain point. (See Standing Up for Laborers in the Saudi Summer) If the Weather Bureau says it's above the set point, then millions of dollars of work isn't getting done. The higher the temperature rises above the limit, the harder it is for the Weather Bureau to dissimulate. But it's amazing how temperatures only rarely rise above the legal limit. I know many people, of many different professions, who've recorded temperatures approaching 150F in a variety of locations and circumstances in Saudi Arabia. Some were doing readings on flight lines, some at oil rigs, some standing out in the middle of the Empty Quarter just to measure the temperature. 130F is definitely surpassed, annually.

By: Dale

Dale — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:35:05 +0000

Maybe soldiers just like to bitch about how hot it is?

Soldiers (like Marines, Sailors and Airmen) like to bitch because they like to bitch. Heat, cold, food it doesn't matter they'll bitch about it.

By: Zelsdorf Ragshaft III

Zelsdorf Ragshaft III — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:28:44 +0000

James, if you do not think it gets that hot, spend some of the money you get for educating yourself to the degree that you have and travel to Iraq. You could write a paper on it when you return. Maybe get another degee.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:32:01 +0000

One more comment, a soldier carries much more then his body armor.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 23:13:04 +0000

James

Where to start? There is a problem with using the official climate temperatures that you seem to be referring to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature_extreme

First the official temperatures in many countries are taken from a very small numbers of recording devices. Take Kuwait for instance. The temperatures in Kuwait city or Camp Doha that is located along the coast was often far cooler than areas located in the center of the country. They didn’t have official weather stations out there to take temperatures.
Second as some have already stated, soldiers don’t work in temperatures zones that constitutes official temperatures zones. For example they don’t work in the shade four feet above the ground away from asphalt and sand. Often they are walking asphalt streets or are in metal armor vehicles, most of the time in direct sunlight. They lay on the ground at times.

I could go on and on but I think it is clear that the myth you claim to have busted is not busted.

By: JKB

JKB — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 22:59:24 +0000

Well, the funny thing is, very little of a soldier's work occurs in nice grassy areas with lots of shade and open to breezes. Quite a bit of the work happens in the open sun, on hard packed or asphalt roads while hugging the scorching hot walls of a building. Funny thing is all the earthen buildings with thick walls are designed to collect heat during the day and radiate it during the cooler night. Bad thing is when they are collecting the solar energy they are like walking next to an oven. Oh and not to worry that your hunkered down in a ravine with air as still as death, there is a 20 knot wind blowing at 10 m where the "official" wind is measured. It makes sense to measure wx parameters in a consistent way that avoids local variances for global monitoring but it is ignorant to think that those "official" measurements are the be all end all to describe the local conditions experienced by those on the ground in any particular location.

By: cirby

cirby — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 22:11:20 +0000

Back in the Air Force (1982-85), working on jets at George Air Force Base in the California desert, we recorded air temps of over 140 on the pads near the aircraft, and 160 or more with the engines running. 110 in the shade means 140 or higher in the sun, and often over 150 on dark surfaces.

By: Cernig

Cernig — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:49:46 +0000

In fairness, it must be noted that a soldier in full body armor and kit isn't "an open, breezy area."

Regards, C

By: anjin-san

anjin-san — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:48:17 +0000

Well, we know Tony Snow thinks that it is too hot for the government of Iraq to be expected to work. Course our guys go right on dying while they are on vacation...