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Some bodies of hypothermia victims are found partially dressed, or even fully undressed, in a phenomenon called “paradoxical undressing”. In some rare cases, people suffering from extreme cold appear to feel hot in the moments before they die. However, being close to the point of death from hypothermia can apparently do strange things to the mind. As fluid in our tissues begins to freeze, our cell walls break leading to necrosis, or cell death. But in doing so, we sacrifice heat in those extremities. Our bodies are very good at reducing blood flow, through a process called vasoconstriction, to our hands and feet to preserve our core body temperature. By the time that Shatayeva and her fellow climbers were experiencing cognitive issues, they were probably already experiencing other organ failures elsewhere in their bodies. The most essential of all, of course, is our brain. This is because our bodies’ survival strategies centre around keeping our vital organs running at the expense of less essential body parts. It would appear that our brains are much better at coping in the cold than dealing with being too hot. Another paper found that people brought very close to the point of hypothermia (their core body temperature was lowered to 35.5C) suffered no decline in cognitive function at all. In one paper, people dunked in 2-3C water for three minutes (enough time for someone to develop and get over the cold shock response) saw a decline in their short-term memory but improved in other areas, like their alertness. While there is evidence that extreme heat affects people’s cognitive abilities, it is less clear what, if anything, extreme cold does to the mind. I do not have the strength to hold down the transmitter button.” As they grew colder, their thoughts became increasingly disoriented and they spoke of how weak they were becoming: “Another has died,” Shatayeva is recorded as saying in one of her last messages, “. The group, led by Elvira Shatayeva, were attempting to become the first all-women group to scale the mountain, in modern-day Tajikistan. In one harrowing account of several climbers stranded on Peak Lenin in a blizzard in 1974, their final moments were relayed to base camp. Records of climbers who have succumbed to the cold at altitude are plentiful, often because radio communication can be maintained until they fall unconcious. Heat production at this rate of exercise is minimal, so staying warm is very difficult. Tipton says that climbers on Everest might only be able to manage one step every 10 seconds. People at high altitude might find exercising more difficult. Even when you have to shiver you are essentially engaged in light exercise.” When you exercise reasonably hard you can do that in shorts and t-shirt in the cold. At maximum exercise, it is like you are running a 2kW fire. “If you keep moving and you are reasonably insulated you will produce enough heat to stay warm. “A man in the cold is not necessarily a cold man,” says Tipton. If you are working hard to stay warm, and breathing heavily as a result, it can quickly lead to dehydration. It is why you can see your breath hanging in the air on a cold night.īut the cold also appears to blunt our sensation of thirst, meaning many people do not take in enough water. With no moisture in the air, when he breathed out, he was losing vital fluid from his lungs. But dehydration is a surprising concern in cold environments as the air in sub-zero temperatures is essentially freeze-dried. It is perhaps strange that a drink of ice cold water was a primary concern at a time like that. The tragic tale of Mt Everest’s most famous dead body.
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Punching through the centimetre-thick ice he began to gulp down water from the trough. Despite the freezing temperatures, he paused at a bathtub filled with water left out for sheep for a brief respite. The air temperature was -2C (28F) but with strong winds it would have felt much colder. He should have already died several times over, but something deep inside Friðþórsson propelled him forwards. His bare feet were bleeding from deep cuts caused by the volcanic rock hidden beneath the snow, his clothes soaked in seawater and frozen to his body. It was here, in the early hours of March 12 1984, that 23-year-old Guðlaugur Friðþórsson stumbled towards salvation. The local weather station here claims to be one of the windiest places in Europe. On Stórhöfði peninsula, at the southernmost point of Heimaey is an outcrop that juts into the Atlantic Ocean. Heimaey is the largest of the Westman Islands, an archipelago south of Iceland mostly inhabited by puffins. To mark the end of a turbulent year, we are bringing back some of our favourite stories for BBC Future’s “Best of 2020” collection.