This village in Iran just recorded a dangerous 82.2C heat index. Should you be concerned?

There is a village off the southern coast of Iran that likely recorded dangerously high temperatures in recent days, making global headlines. The station at the Dayrestan airport recorded a heat index of 82.2 degrees Celsius on the 28th of this month.

If confirmed, the heat index could be among the highest such readings ever recorded on the planet. Data available suggests the station recorded a temperature of 38.8 degrees Celsius at 10:30 am on that day. The temperature doesn’t look alarming.

Is there a “feels like” temperature?

But if a relative humidity of 85% is included, the heat index (HI) or “feels like” temperature reaches 82.2 degrees. Typically, arid regions on the planet record higher temperatures. But these places don’t have that high humidity levels, so the body actually feels cooler.

The body starts to perspire if it gets too hot in order to cool itself off. The evaporation of perspiration off the body effectively helps reduce the body’s temperature. If the perspiration is not able to evaporate, the body cannot regulate its temperature.

Prolonged exposure to a heat index in the range of 40 to 50 degrees Celsius can cause heatstroke. The records for that day’s shocking temperature in the Iranian village are yet to be verified, but it is certain that high temperatures have blanketed several countries nearby.

Critical alert for exacerbating conditions in Global South

Higher temperatures last month forced authorities to reduce operating hours at different facilities and order all government and commercial institutions to close on Sunday in order to conserve energy, as scores of people lined up at hospitals for heatstroke treatment.

The Iranian record serves as a critical alert for the exacerbating conditions in the Global South. Experts are concerned that summers are becoming much hotter and lengthier, and colder months are seeing an increasing risk of devastating floods.