*nodnods* My first thought when I hear about hundred-degree temperatures in the US is that some people there exaggerate everything and then I remember that our temperature scales only meet up at... -42°, isn't it?
Meanwhile, I've been wondering what would happen to us if the outdoor temp actually reached 100°C - would our bodies start boiling, as the majority of it consists of water, or would the all the dissolved substances keep us around for a few more degrees. We would, I think, be dead by this point anyway, and so it really wouldn't matter.
Even if the external temperature was 100°C, your body's core temperature would still be cooler, since the body has a number of mechanisms for reducing your body temperature. Sustained exposure such a high temperature would certainly defeat such mechanisms, resulting in the following:
If the core temperature reaches 41°C (106°F), enzymes begin to fail and thermoregulatory mechanisms breakdown. The victim has a rapid and strong pulse, exhibits psychotic behavior, and may slip into unconsciousness. Symptoms at a core temperature of 41°C (106°F) or higher constitute heat stroke (or sunstroke), a life-threatening emergency.
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Date: 2005-08-10 09:27 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2005-08-10 11:02 am (UTC)If the core temperature reaches 41°C (106°F), enzymes begin to fail and thermoregulatory mechanisms breakdown. The victim has a rapid and strong pulse, exhibits psychotic behavior, and may slip into unconsciousness. Symptoms at a core temperature of 41°C (106°F) or higher constitute heat stroke (or sunstroke), a life-threatening emergency.
Source
Basically, you'd go crazy, pass out, then all your organs would fail. Lovely.