To host the 2022 football World Cup, Qatar began building new stadiums in 2015: five, to be precise. The workers recruited are mainly immigrants to the Gulf country from various underdeveloped and poor areas; their working conditions have repeatedly been called into question by numerous investigations by foreign media.
Beyond deaths from workplace accidents, the main cause of the deaths recorded among the workforce was the climate: in particular, the so-called “wet bulb temperature”. What is it?
What is the wet bulb temperature?
In English, Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, WBGT, the wet bulb temperature, is an index of how dangerous exposure to different temperatures and humidity levels is. It is the temperature, combined with humidity, beyond which the body can no longer evaporate sweat and overheats.
How is the WBGT obtained?
This temperature is obtained by combining three measurements:
- The temperature measured by a thermometer wrapped in a damp cloth, which accounts for the effect of evaporation on the actual temperature.
- The temperature of a thermometer shielded by a black container, which gives the temperature produced by the radiant effect (the sun’s rays heating an object).
- The ambient temperature.
