T 0.2 Unfavourable Climatic Conditions

Unfavourable climatic conditions like heat, frost or high humidity can lead to a wide variety of damage, like malfunctions in technical components or damage of storage media. Frequent fluctuations of climatic conditions amplify these effects. Unfavourable climatic conditions can also lead to a situation where people are no longer capable of working or where they are injured or killed.

Every human being and every technical appliance has a temperature range, within which normal operation or proper functioning is guaranteed. Whenever the ambient temperature exceeds the lower or the upper limit of this range, it may cause absences from work (stoppages), operational disruptions or device failures.

For example, electrical energy is converted into heat in a server room owing to the devices inside and thus heating the room up. In cases of insufficient ventilation, the permissible operating temperature of the devices inside can be exceeded. Under solar exposure, the temperature in the room can reach 50 degrees Celsius.

For the purpose of ventilation, windows in server rooms are frequently opened without permission. In seasonal transition periods with major temperature fluctuations (spring, autumn), this can result in exceeding the permissible air humidity due to severe cooling.

When storing digital long-term storage media, excessive fluctuations of temperature or a too high humidity level can lead to data errors or a reduced data retention period. Some manufacturers state that the optimum storage conditions for long-term storage media are temperatures ranging from 20 to 22°C and an air humidity of 40%. Also, analogue media like paper or microfilms require certain storage conditions. If, for instance, paper is stored in too humid a place, it can get mouldy or disintegrate.

Examples:

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