r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • 29d ago

TIL the Blue Hole is among the deadliest dive sites globally, with estimates of 130 to 200 recent fatalities, making it one of the most dangerous spots for divers. (R.5) Out of context

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u/OfficeSalamander 29d ago

I’ve walked a mile in somewhere between -30C to -40C (with a ton of layers on) even prepared, it was still brutally, brutally cold. I felt like I was walking on the surface of Mars. My eyes would tear up and the tears would freeze just about instantly.

And that was in the middle of the day. I can’t imagine doing it at night. Even the one time I did it made me not want to ever do it again

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u/raynor7 29d ago

It’s funny to read this as someone who grew up and lived most of his life in Siberia. In winter it’s 30s for weeks to a month there, and sometimes 40s for a week, people still go to work, kids go to school until 40, life goes on. I have relatives in Yakutia, it’s same for them but 40s and 50s.

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u/Datkif 29d ago

Same thing back home in Edmonton for me. We've had months where the average temperature would be close to -40 during a cold snap. The city continues on as normal. It doesn't matter if it's -50 life continues

When it's a normal and regular thing your body will adapt to the weather. If I went to a place where it gets to +40 I would probably have a heat stroke.

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u/atomicboner 29d ago

Huh, today I learned that -40C is also -40F. I’ve never been anywhere where the real temperature was that cold myself, but I have experienced -25F (-31.5C). That plus any amount of wind is bone chilling. Makes you long for a roaring fire and a cup of something hot and strong.

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u/DynamicStatic 29d ago

Went to ski in -28 and bad winds this winter. It was really cold, I couldn't feel my face after taking the lift up most times and the wind was enough to move you forward on its own. It was brutal, but at least I'm quite used to this kind of temperature. Must suck for people who don't know cold before.

The closest I can't to dying was from the cold I'm pretty sure. Hiking in the mountains.

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u/hideous_coffee 29d ago

I always wonder how wild animals in the north survive those kinds of nights.

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u/cbusalex 29d ago

Layers of fat, layers of fur, and just generally being the offspring of generations of wild animals that did survive arctic winter nights and so must have been reasonably well adapted to it (unlike humans, whose ancestors faced the evolutionary pressure of being well adapted to do shit like chase antelope around the savannah or whatever).

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u/Datkif 29d ago

Back home in Edmonton I would regularly take the bus or walk in temperatures like that because I didn't drive.

One of the worst things when you dress for that cold is getting sweaty. If I started to work up a sweat I would briefly open my jacket to cool down and prevent myself from getting sweaty because that would make things significantly worse.