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Harmattan
~1.9 mins read
The Harmattan is a season in West Africa, which occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara Desert over West Africa into the Gulf of Guinea . [1]
The name is related to the word haramata in the Twi language. [2] The temperature is cold in most places, but can also be hot in certain places, depending on local circumstances. [3]
Harmattan haze surrounding Abuja National Mosque in Abuja
The Harmattan blows during the dry season, which occurs during the months with the lowest sun. In this season the subtropical ridge of high pressure stays over the central Sahara Desert and the low-pressure
Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) stays over the Gulf of Guinea. On its passage over the Sahara, the harmattan picks up fine dust and sand particles (between 0.5 and 10 microns). It is also known as the "doctor wind", because of its invigorating dryness compared with humid tropical air.
Effects
This season differs from winter , because it is characterized by cold, dry, [4] dust-laden wind, and also wide fluctuations in the ambient temperatures of the day and night. Temperatures can easily be as low as 9 °C (48 °F) all day, but sometimes in the afternoon the temperature can also soar to as high as 30 °C (86 °F), while the relative humidity drops under 5%. It can also be hot in some regions, like in
Sahara desert .[5]
Harmattan haze over Ho, Ghana
The air is particularly dry and desiccating when the Harmattan blows over the region. [4] The Harmattan brings desert-like weather conditions: it lowers the humidity, dissipates cloud cover, prevents rainfall formation and sometimes creates big clouds of dust which can result in dust storms or
sandstorms . [citation needed ] The wind can increase fire risk[6] and cause severe crop damage. [7] The interaction of the Harmattan with monsoon winds can cause tornadoes . [1]
Harmattan haze
In some countries in West Africa, the heavy amount of dust in the air can severely limit visibility and block the sun for several days, [8] comparable to a heavy fog. This effect is known as the Harmattan haze. It costs airlines millions of dollars in cancelled and diverted flights each year. [9][10] When the haze is weak, the skies are clear. [11][12] The extreme dryness of the air may cause branches of trees to die. [13]
Health
Humidity drops to as low as 15%, which can result in spontaneous nosebleeds for some people.[7] Other health effects on humans may include conditions of the skin (dryness of the skin), dried or chapped lips, eyes, and respiratory system, including aggravation of asthma.[14]
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Yes Sex Can Kill You.Us Study Shows
~1.6 mins read
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Sudden bursts of moderate to intense physical activity -- such as jogging or having sex -- significantly increase the risk of having a heart attack, especially in people who do not get regular exercise, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
Doctors have long known that physical activity can cause serious heart problems, but the new study helps to quantify that risk, Dr. Issa Dahabreh of Tufts Medical Center in Boston, whose study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The team analyzed data from 14 studies looking at the link between exercise, sex and the risk of heart attacks or sudden cardiac death -- a lethal heart rhythm that causes the heart to stop circulating blood.
They found people are 3.5 times more likely to get a heart attack or have sudden cardiac death when they are exercising compared to when they are not.
And they are 2.7 times more likely to get a heart attack when they are having sex or immediately afterward compared with when they are not. (These findings do not apply to sudden cardiac death because there were no studies looking at the link between sex and cardiac death.)
Jessica Paulus, another Tufts researcher who worked on the study, said the risk is fairly high as such studies go. But the period of increased risk is brief.
“These elevated risks are only for a short period of time (1 to 2 hours) during and after the physical or sexual activity,†Paulus said in a telephone interview.
Because of that, the risk to individuals over the course of a year is still quite small, she said.
“If you take 10,000 people, each individual session of physical or sexual activity per week can be associated with an increase of 1 to 2 cases of heart attack or sudden cardiac death per year,†Paulus said.
She said it is important to balance the findings with other studies showing that regular physical activity reduces the risk of heart attacks and sudden cardiac death by 30 percent.
“What we really don’t want to do is for the public to walk away from this and think exercise is bad,†she said.
What it does mean is that people who do not exercise regularly need to start any exercise program slowly, gradually increasing the intensity of the workout over time.
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