Long-term exposure to extreme heat events accelerates biological aging and increases vulnerability to a range of health issues. Analysis of 24,922 people in Taiwan links cumulative heatwave exposure to increases in biological age comparable to the effects of regular smoking or alcohol consumption. Higher frequency of extreme-heat events corresponded with greater organ ageing. Prolonged heat exposure strains organs and can be lethal, and accelerated ageing represents an additional, less visible health impact. The findings underscore human vulnerability to climate-driven heat and strengthen the case for urgent, deep reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions to protect public health.
Long-term exposure to extreme heat events accelerates the body's ageing process and increases vulnerabilities to heath issues, finds a long-term study of 24,922 people in Taiwan. The study, published today in Nature Climate Change, suggests that moderate increases in cumulative heatwave exposure increase a person's biological age to an extent comparable to regular smoking or alcohol consumption. The more extreme-heat events that people were exposed to, the more their organs aged.
Exposure to extreme heat, especially over long periods of time, strains organs and can be lethal, but the fact that heatwaves age us is surprising, says Paul Beggs, an environmental-health scientist at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, who was not involved in the research. This study is a wake-up call that we are all vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change on our health. It reinforces calls for urgent and deep reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions, he adds.
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