Why extreme heat is much more dangerous for the elderly than we realised

A much higher number of elderly people than previously thought are at high risk of illness or death from extreme heat as temperatures climb under the effects of climate change, scientists have discovered. A new study by researchers at Stanford University in the United States factored in the way age affects the body’s tolerance for heat, shining a light on a new level of risk from heatwaves for the global population.

Central Europe sees record temperatures as heatwave continues Indonesia closes national park in East Java as wildfire expands Europe braces for another heatwave after record-breaking temperatures As the number of people aged 60 years and older is projected to more than double from one billion in 2020 to 2.1 billion in 2050, representing 21 percent of the world’s population, the Stanford study warns that rising temperatures could become far more deadly than expected. “Previous assessments often assumed that everyone could tolerate heat as well as a healthy young adult, which substantially underestimated the risk to older people,” Chris Mullington, honorary clinical senior lecturer at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, told Al Jazeera. The new study “reinforces that dangerous heat cannot be defined by one universal temperature threshold.

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