Pro Baseball Resumes, But Concerns Linger Over Radiant Heat From the Ground

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Professional baseball, which was halted for the first time in history due to extreme heat, has resumed.

The KBO has revised its regulations regarding extreme heat. Reporter Park Ha-jeong looks into whether these measures will ensure the safety of players and spectators moving forward.

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During last week's professional baseball games held amid scorching heat exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.

As players complained of dizziness and two spectators in their 20s collapsed unconscious, the KBO held an emergency meeting and introduced new countermeasures.

The rules now allow games to be canceled if a severe heatwave warning, newly established by the Korea Meteorological Administration this year, is issued or if the perceived temperature reaches 35 degrees Celsius or higher.

Moving beyond simply looking at peak temperatures and introducing a perceived temperature standard that reflects humidity is progress.

However, is this enough?

Around 10 AM on the 7th, when the Bonghwangdaegi High School Baseball Tournament was underway, Seoul's perceived temperature was 33.9°C (93°F), meaning professional baseball games could proceed under the new regulations.

Yet, with ground temperatures approaching 66°C (151°F), players complained of dizziness due to the radiant heat rising from the ground.

[Park Jin-sung / Yaro BC Catcher (on the 7th): You could think of it as playing baseball inside a sauna to make it easier to understand.]

This is why arguments are being raised for the adoption of the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), an index that comprehensively evaluates the impact of extreme heat on players, including radiant heat rising from the ground.

Around 6 PM, after the Bonghwangdaegi game concluded.

The reporting team visited the baseball stadium where the game took place to directly measure the WBGT.

The WBGT, which incorporates humidity and radiant heat, is calculated differently and typically reads lower than the air temperature; the temperature measured on the artificial turf was 38.7°C (102°F), while the WBGT was 32.2°C (90°F).

Inside the dugouts where players stay, the temperature was 39.1°C (102°F) and the WBGT was 32.9°C (91°F), higher than on the field.

The Japanese government recommends a complete ban on outdoor exercise when the WBGT exceeds 31 degrees due to concerns over heat-related illnesses.

[Ham Seung-heon / Professor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Gachon University Gil Medical Center: You can think of artificial turf, running tracks, and asphalt as retaining a tremendous amount of heat. (The WBGT) measures the heat stress a person actually feels, and it is an index widely used in the military and sports sectors...] flaky

In some sports such as football, the WBGT is already used as an international standard.

(Photo: Yonhap News / Video reporting: Park Jin-ho, Video editing: Choi Hye-young, Design: Park Tae-young, VJ: Shin So-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.