Hettan och humör

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Har kommer ett intresant artikel om hur varmen pavekar manniskors humör. Intressant att bevaka sitt beteende och kannar hur man paverkas sa att man intehandlar fel pga av hettan.

How to keep your cool on the hottest day
By Finlo Rohrer
BBC News Magazine

The mercury's rising, with temperatures expected to set a new record high for the UK. What does extreme heat do to people's behaviour - and how best to cope when it's hot?

Britons do not have a good track record in dealing with extreme heat.

We look forward to summer, up until a heatwave coincides with a working day. Faced with a badly ventilated place of work, reached by overcrowded, inefficient transport, we get angry. Very angry indeed.

MOOD
There are scientists who believe the weather can have a direct effect on our state of mind.

Some researchers say the presence of large numbers of negative ions - negatively charged particles - in the air we breathe can lighten our mood. These are thought to occur in greater numbers where there is moving water or on mountains.

We are normally good at multi-tasking but when it gets too hot you become an accident risk to yourself and other people

Professor Alex Gardner
Psychologist Professor Alex Gardner says many people might be feeling the shortage of negative ions as they swelter in breezeless cities.

"You get this dull heavy atmosphere. When you are at the seaside or up in the mountains there is a buoyant atmosphere. The Moors used to design inner courtyards where water was always running, with trees to soak up the heat.

"People get a bit fidgety, as when there is the possibility of thunderstorms."

But there's dispute over whether an Innovations catalogue-style ion generator can demonstrably improve your mood. So if the boss is amenable, head for a waterfall, mountain range or the seaside. Although it must be said that seaside resorts rarely play host to those under the calming influence of negative ions.


Enjoy those negative ions
There are other changes in our behaviour that arise from the heat.

"When you are dehydrated, your body is under stress. It changes your mood and you choose stereotypical solutions rather than rational solutions. You get into the 'child state'. You whine and moan. There is anger, irritation, poor judgement and fatigue, says Prof Gardner.

"We are normally good at multi-tasking but when it gets too hot you become an accident risk to yourself and other people."

Psychologist Dr Joan Harvey studies the effects of high temperatures on workers in foundries and bakeries.

"If you are not 'adapted', at anything between 77-85f (25-29C) you will start to feel uncomfortable if the humidity is high. A high humidity temperature of 25C can feel as bad as a temperature in the 30-35C range."

And the advice to improve your psychological state? Protect your physical state. Drink lots of water, avoid unnecessary activity, stay in the shade.

ON THE MOVE

To experience the mood-changing nature of extreme heat in full effect, get in a car and hit the road.

Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, is convinced that extremely hot days see a jump in incidents of road rage.


If a car cuts in front of you rather than flashing your lights or beeping, try to put it into context - he will only be one car ahead of you

Edmund King
"We have looked at road rage over the past five or six years. You do tend to find there are more incidents when the weather is hotter. People get stuck in road works, they get frustrated because it is hot, particularly if they don't have air conditioning. They tend to literally lose their cool. You might have children and they might be crying."

Where pedestrians might bump into each other, apologise, and move on, the most minor incidents on the road can be blown out of proportion.

Mr King advises that motorists allow extra time for journeys, check the Highways Agency website so as to avoid jams, and most importantly do not respond in any way to inconsiderate drivers.

"Try not to over-react. If a car cuts in front of you, rather than flashing your lights or beeping, try to put it into context. He will only be one car ahead of you. You can minimise the risk of being a victim by not abusing other drivers yourself."

CRIME RATES
But does hot weather and frayed tempers lead to increasing crime?

The academic study, the Impact of Exceptionally Hot Weather in 1995, commissioned by the government and carried out by the University of East Anglia, found "no significant relationships" between the total number of offences and the weather.

Only mad dogs and Englishmen work in the sun - the animals of the Serengeti won't be working for a living

David Ross

But it noted that sexual offences were 5-15% higher in the unusually hot months in 1976, 1989 and 1990. In 1995, there was "no weather-related response".

A US study from Harvard University paints a more subtle picture, suggesting that a heatwave can trigger a short-term rise in crime, just as cold and very wet weather can reduce crime.

But in the days and weeks following such a "weather shock", the crime rate re-adjusts itself - with crime falling after a heatwave and rising after a cold snap - so that the average figures show little difference.

BEAT THE HEAT

David Ross, general manager of Knowsley Safari Park, thinks we can learn from the lions and other exotic animals he looks after.

"Only mad dogs and Englishmen work in the sun. The animals of the Serengeti won't be working for a living. They'll be chilling out, finding shade and water.

"Elephants like swimming, or a mud bath. Rhinos wallow in mud. In the Serengeti, there won't be much activity in the heat of the day."


DRESS TO AVOID STRESS
The TUC has called upon employers to let their workers dress down to beat the heat. But spare a thought for those whose jobs means there is no latitude for open-necked shirts and short.

At the Ritz in London, doormen will still appear in top hats and long coats. And over at Buckingham Palace, the guards will be sporting their bearskin hats as usual.

A spokesman for the MoD says: "Many of them are already stood in the shade. We make sure they take on board plenty of water. Service in Iraq and Afghanistan has helped educate people more about the effects of heat.

"We will shorten the rotations from two hours down to one hour. We can move some of the sentry positions so they are in the shade. But the hats stay on."