Older Adults Face Rising Heat Stress

Research indicates that older adults reach dangerous, potentially uncompensable heat-stress conditions at lower temperatures than younger people because aging reduces sweating, circulation, and the ability to respond to dehydration and heat.

At 1.5°C of global warming, large numbers of older adults could face prolonged annual exposure to hazardous heat, with particularly high risks in parts of South and South Asia and other tropical or subtropical regions. The findings strengthen the case for age-specific heat warnings, cooling access, and other public-health measures.