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Isn't there a certain point where your skin cells begin to die once they hit the frigid air though?
Exposed skin will freeze in less than 30 seconds @ 70 below zero.
Eskimos are not acclimated to the cold; they just have certain tricks they constantly use to cope with the cold weather. They are experts they have been doing this for many thousands of years.
How you dress is extremely important. But even more important is what you eat and how you eat it if your going to deal with very low temps.
There is a huge difference between wet damp cold and the dryness of the Arctic. For instance. A native woman who has spent her whole life in the Arctic. Could not handle the cold of the East Coast, wearing her big fur Eskimo parky- she froze @ 30 above zero.
East Coast cold/dampness goes through all clothing into your bones.
Arctic cold - no matter how cold - will never penetrate your clothing, but you must be dressed correctly.
In Point Hope Alaska, the hunters sleep outside for two months during whaling with no tents at all.
No one is cold, when you do begin to become cold in that enviroment; you must have something special to eat; that will generate body heat.
This works quite well, but you will never believe this; until you ask an Inupiat Eskimo; Quaq. is a life saver. It consists of Raw Frozen Caribou Meat or Raw Frozen Fish. I have been on 9 whale hunts with the Inupiaq people and they have taught me lots. I am speaking from personal experience. This is how it works.
At every camp site out on the ice, they have a huge piece of frozen raw caribou, or fish, (always raw) You slice thin strips of meat or fish and swallow them whole, do not chew.
Fill your stomach full with as much as you can eat. Your stomach full of frozen food has to work incredibly hard to digest that raw frozen mass in your stomach; Your body begins to produce body heat the likes of which you have never experienced in your life. At 40 below zero we are taking clothes off because we are too hot.
Do not attempt this and try and stay inside- your gonna get in big trouble and end up in the hospital. This is called a hunters breakfast. When hunters go out into the tundra hundreds of miles away; they survive on quaq. You can go all day (walking) without becoming thirsty.
If you ever get stuck- out in the elements you better know what to do.
Dressing properly is just one of 4 different tricks the Inupiaq people employ.
These tricks will not work in East Coast type of damp cold.
No igloos here but the sod house remains are hundred of years old, if not more.
If there were igloos here they wouldn't come with guarantees since the record high here is 79. At that temp people die here.
First of all; IN Alaska an iglu is not made out of ONLY sod !! For thousands of years; An Iglu is made out of whale bone and sod!! They are still all over the place preserved in Point Hope. I have dozens of photographs depicting the inside and outside of these dwellings that are THOUSANDS of years old.
I have lived in Kotzebue for many summers, It is common every summer to reach temps in the mid 80's. NOBODY DIES. that is just so typical of the misinformation that has recently started to circulate here in the arctic by outsiders that have absolutely no idea what they are even talking about.
No igloos here but the sod house remains are hundred of years old, if not more.
If there were igloos here they wouldn't come with guarantees since the record high here is 79. At that temp people die here.
That's a sort of interesting few hints at even more interesting stuff.
Most folks reading this will think of "ice igloo" when the term "igloo" is used. But in Inupiaq the word "iglu" means house. Sod iglu, frame iglu, etc.
There are remains of sod houses here that range from 800 to 2000 years old.
The grassy area behind the picture has several old sod houses. But the picture was intended to show off the sign, not the houses, so you can't really see much. It is interesting though to zoom in on the sign and read what it says.
Also, everyone should note that Wynternite works at the hospital, sometimes in the Emergency Room, and is not at all joking that when temperatures approach the record high of 79 in Barrow there are people who die from the heat.
First of all; IN Alaska an iglu is not made out of ONLY sod !! For thousands of years; An Iglu is made out of whale bone and sod!! They are still all over the place preserved in Point Hope. I have dozens of photographs depicting the inside and outside of these dwellings that are THOUSANDS of years old.
I have lived in Kotzebue for many summers, It is common every summer to reach temps in the mid 80's. NOBODY DIES. that is just so typical of the misinformation that has recently started to circulate here in the arctic by outsiders that have absolutely no idea what they are even talking about.
An Iglu = 1 dwelling place.
Iglut = two dwelling places.
Igluk = 3 or more.
I don't think Wynternight literally meant that people die in 79 degrees. Just like when I talk about the time I went to Missouri a few summers ago, I say that "I was dying" in the hot and very humid weather. I wasn't literally dying, it's just an expression.
Wynternight also said there were no igloos, but sod house remains.
Also, everyone should note that Wynternite works at the hospital, sometimes in the Emergency Room, and is not at all joking that when temperatures approach the record high of 79 in Barrow there are people who die from the heat.
Perhaps it was a mix then? Does one acclimated to such cold become more easily susceptible to heat stroke than those who see temperatures in the mid to high 70s and 80s every summer?
Perhaps it was a mix then? Does one acclimated to such cold become more easily susceptible to heat stroke than those who see temperatures in the mid to high 70s and 80s every summer?
Yes.
There actually are physiological adaptions to cold climates. Peoples who live in the Arctic tend not be long and skinny, and instead have shorter stubbier bone structures. There are also differences in peripheral circulation and in areas close to the skin.
Of course acclimation is also significant too. And just as important are the knowledge and experience gained from growing up and/or living in cold temperatures for all of ones life. On the down side is that none of that is available for conditions that are excessively warm. Houses are not built to be cool, cloths are not designed to be cool, and people have no experience in how to keep cool.
There is a significant rise in ambulance calls in Barrow when temperatures get to the 70's.
There actually are physiological adaptions to cold climates. Peoples who live in the Arctic tend not be long and skinny, and instead have shorter stubbier bone structures. There are also differences in peripheral circulation and in areas close to the skin.
Of course acclimation is also significant too. And just as important are the knowledge and experience gained from growing up and/or living in cold temperatures for all of ones life. On the down side is that none of that is available for conditions that are excessively warm. Houses are not built to be cool, cloths are not designed to be cool, and people have no experience in how to keep cool.
There is a significant rise in ambulance calls in Barrow when temperatures get to the 70's.
I know literally hundreds of natives that have served in Vietnam & Iraq & Afghanistan!! I have yet to read in the Arctic sounder of people dying in Barrow from heat issues.
Lets keep it straight about Inupiaq words like iglu. It seems one individual has posted to dozens of places on the Internet... and gotten it wrong!
The 'k' suffix means 2, the 't' suffix means more than that.
iglu = dwelling
igluk = 2 dwellings (also spelled igluuk)
iglut = more than 2 dwellings (also spelled igluit)
An igloo in English is an "apuyýaq" (actually a snow dwelling).
Barrow dialect is different than Point Hope dialect floyd everyone knows this.
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