https://www.futurity.org/heat-waves-older-adults-3243822/
"If you’re reading this, congratulations—you survived the world’s hottest day
ever recorded.
On Monday, July 22, 2024, the daily global average temperature soared to a
record-setting 62.87 degrees Fahrenheit (17.15 degrees C). This happened only
days after heat waves scorched much of the United States—including
Massachusetts—and western Europe, putting hundreds of millions of people in
danger.
Compared to more visible climate change-fueled disasters, like flooding and
hurricanes, heat is an invisible threat. But excessively hot temperatures have
real physical effects on the body, including lowering blood pressure due to
blood vessels dilating, dehydration from sweating more, and kidney damage.
About 489,000 people globally are killed by extreme heat each year, with people
over 65 years old at the highest risk.
As global temperatures rise, the population of older adults who are vulnerable
to the heat is also rising: the population 60 years and older worldwide is
expected to double to 2.1 billion by 2050.
In a recent paper, Boston University economist and climate expert Ian Sue Wing
and sociologist Deborah Carr found that compared to the present day, an
additional 250 million older adults will be chronically exposed to dangerously
high temperatures by 2050 as a result of the climate crisis and global aging
trends.
Their results appear in
Nature Communications.
By combining their expertise in population health and climate modeling, they
brought together two entirely different sets of data—demographics and climate
forecasts—to see where older populations are more at risk of worsening heat in
the coming decades."
Via Rixty Dixet.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
