News: 0184826622

  ARM Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life (Terry Pratchett, Jingo)

South Korea Records Its Highest Ever Temperature

(Monday August 03, 2026 @05:00PM (BeauHD) from the totally-normal dept.)


South Korea [1]recorded its highest temperature since modern observations began in 1904 , with the city of Yangsan reaching 42.5C as temperatures exceeded 40C for a fifth consecutive day. Authorities warned residents to "immediately stop all outdoor activities." The Guardian reports:

> More than 20 localities in South Korea were under emergency heatwave alerts on Sunday -- a new warning category introduced this year to better address rising temperatures. An emergency alert is issued when areas experiencing a heatwave are forecast to hit perceived temperatures of 38C or an actual temperature of 39C for the day. Issuing a heat warning, the weather agency urged people to "immediately stop all outdoor activities," adding that "indoor spaces without air conditioning are dangerous."

>

> "Move immediately to a cool place, such as a designated cooling centre or a shaded area, and stay hydrated while resting," it advised. Fearing for those people most vulnerable to heat, the prime minister, Han Seong-sook, ordered local officials to strengthen safety checks on residents and to ensure a stable power and water supply was maintained. [...] Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) data show the average annual number of heatwave days in the country has more than doubled to 19 in the past five years.



[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/03/south-korea-highest-temperature



Well gee wiz! (Score:2)

by Anonymous Coward

Not like scientists have been screaming this for years now. [1]https://xkcd.com/1732/ [xkcd.com]

[1] https://xkcd.com/1732/

Re: (Score:2)

by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

El ninos occur on average twice a decade. Records only occur once until they are broken.

Re: (Score:1)

by Black Parrot ( 19622 )

Well, yes. But the politicians say the scientists are wrong.

Who are you going to believe? Geeky nerd types, or the people who actually run the real world?

Re: (Score:2)

by fortfive ( 1582005 )

It is very hard to convince someone of something when their livelihood depends upon them not being convinced of it.

--paraphrase of a quote made by someone whose name I forget

Re: (Score:2)

by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

> how did they install electricity

By running a thin cable into a building. When AC is delivered by a thin cable then you'll have solved the problem. Have you solved the problem? I didn't think so.

There's a reason the cutting edge of cooling tech is looking to reuse radiator circulation and provide cooling through air-water heatpumps.

Re: Well gee wiz! (Score:2)

by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

AC is commonly delivered by one medium thick wire and two skinny hoses. You can generally get all three through a hole of around 3-4cm.

Re: (Score:1)

by cayenne8 ( 626475 )

Do these structures have windows? If so, you can hang window units on them, or at the very least have floor units and vent out the window.

AC does not necessarily mean Central AC systems....geez.

The US has tons of old homes without central AC that sill have AC with portable units, or window units, etc.

This is not rocket surgery.

Re: (Score:2)

by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

> Do these structures have windows? If so, you can hang window units on them, or at the very least have floor units and vent out the window.

> AC does not necessarily mean Central AC systems....geez.

I'm sure you're the first person to comment on ugly buildings with window units hanging out of every available space. Oh wait, I've actually seen you make exactly this comment before you hypocrite.

And that's before you consider that many European window designs do not lend themselves to having window units bolted into them (since many countries do not actually have sliding windows as a standard).

And floor units? I mean can't you come up with an even worse solution? Why not put a large block of ice in the ho

Re: (Score:2)

by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

Many European style houses do not have windows compatible with window AC units due to how they open/close and their size. And having just gone through the process of replacing window frames, it can raise the cost of installing an AC up to the next order of magnitude.

Re: (Score:2)

by shilly ( 142940 )

Upton Sinclair: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it"

Re: (Score:3, Informative)

by gweihir ( 88907 )

Remember the MAGA Covid deniers that being hours from death still claimed it was not real? THAT is the level of abject, total, complete stupid we are dealing with here. These people have no understanding of anything.

Incidentally, most politicians say whatever will get them elected. No connection to the truth needed.

Re: (Score:2)

by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 )

That cannot be done unless we change our attitude about what we put into our atmosphere and how we respect the air we breathe. That requires us to meet head-on the serious threat of global warming. -Bill Clinton, 1993

Let's speak plainly and accurately, a particular group of politicians say the scientists are wrong and they say that for no other reason than to gain a craven political advantage by being oppositional to that group of politicians who believe the scientists.

Re: Well gee wiz! (Score:2)

by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

Even the bush administration acknowledged AGW on their way out the door... Even the Clinton administration talked a good game but only late and mostly talk

Classic Sci-Fi (Score:2)

by bussdriver ( 620565 )

It used to be cliche for the scientists to be warning/screaming about pending problems or solutions until the crisis forced people to listen to them and finally solve the crisis. Far too often, with the scientists aiding the meat-head protagonist with the fruits of their labor to safe the day as the promoted hero and if they are lucky they live to the ending and get to make an appearance at the conclusion. Too realistically, the protagonist is a maverick who breaks the norms by listening to the scientists

42.5 C (Score:2)

by Frissysan ( 659257 )

is 108 F for those too lazy to do the math.

Re: (Score:1)

by cayenne8 ( 626475 )

Thanks,, when I think 42 degrees my immediate reaction is, "I need a jacket or sweater, especially if the wind is blowing..."

Re: (Score:2)

by mistergrumpy ( 7379416 )

Don't standard grade residential air conditioners give up around 45C? I know there are fancier ones that work up to 55C for India and the Middle East, but would that have installed those in South Korea?

For us non-metric countries (Score:2)

by PuddleBoy ( 544111 )

That's 108.5 degrees Fahrenheit

Re: (Score:2)

by bobthesungeek76036 ( 2697689 )

And for us in Texas: just another summer day...

Re: (Score:2)

by ArchieBunker ( 132337 )

I just checked, and it's 2:17AM in Seoul. It's 86F with 85% humidity! Heat index is currently at 103F, at fucking 2AM.

Re: (Score:1)

by cayenne8 ( 626475 )

> I just checked, and it's 2:17AM in Seoul. It's 86F with 85% humidity! Heat index is currently at 103F, at fucking 2AM.

That's just a middling summer day in New Orleans.

Bump that humidity up a bit and then you get closer to common average days here in summer.

Mind you, my AC turns on basically end of April and usually is on till first part of November.

Re: For us non-metric countries (Score:2)

by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

I was in Texas for less extreme weather than this, and it killed a bunch of people because it went on for a month.

useless (Score:2)

by groobly ( 6155920 )

Temperature readings are not meaningful as to effect on people unless you also know the humidity.

Re: (Score:2)

by smooth wombat ( 796938 )

Tell that to the people who die in Death Valley when they are on a hike.

Re: (Score:2)

by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 )

"It's 108 degrees outside"

"Yeah but you know, it's a dry heat"

Re: (Score:2)

by PPH ( 736903 )

I've tried. They don't seem to listen.

Re: (Score:2)

by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

Which is also not meaningful as to effect on people unless you also know how the houses are built, ventilated, climate controlled, the prevalence and access to water, cooling, shade, etc.

Two places with the same temperature AND humidity can have drastically different effects on a population.

Re: (Score:2)

by ArchieBunker ( 132337 )

As per my other comment, its 2AM in Seoul and the heat index is 103F.

Re: (Score:2)

by garcia ( 6573 )

Humidity is currently 91% in Yangsan.

Re: (Score:2)

by PPH ( 736903 )

Thank goodness they suspended the fighting in the jungles of Vietnam when it got this hot and sweaty.

Re: (Score:2)

by shilly ( 142940 )

Vietnamese jungles never got this hot. Max 38C vs 42.5C here. Similar humidity

109 in San Jose, A few Years Back (Score:2)

by BrendaEM ( 871664 )

[1]https://abc7news.com/post/reco... [abc7news.com]

Was 115 in Black Rock Desert, for a summer event : )

[1] https://abc7news.com/post/record-heat-bay-area-wave-hottest-temperatures-breaking/12204813/

Perhaps (Score:2)

by nehumanuscrede ( 624750 )

Perhaps rising temperatures are natures way of telling the Human race that

our time on this planet is quickly coming to an end.

"Floggings will continue until morale improves."
-- anonymous flyer being distributed at Exxon USA