Summary

A new study in Science Advances finds that prolonged heat exposure accelerates aging at the molecular level, similar to smoking and drinking.

Researchers analyzed DNA from 3,600 older adults and found those in hotter areas, like Phoenix, aged 14 months faster than those in cooler places.

Heat-induced “epigenetic aging” increases risks for diseases like dementia and heart problems. Climate change is worsening heat exposure, especially for older adults, further straining health systems.

Scientists aim to study how indoor heat affects health and explore ways to mitigate long-term damage.

  • ZettaEnglish
    12·
    12 hours ago

    You are exaggerating. No, the people of Phoenix would not die if the AC went out for two weeks during summer heat. They have thousands of homeless people that do it every year.

    Living in Phoenix is significantly safer when looking at natural disaster risk than a significant portion of everywhere else in the country.

    • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      3·
      8 hours ago

      No I am not not exaggerating

      CONSIDER THIS NIGHTMARE scenario. For four days now, temperatures have soared past 110 degrees. Those able to stay home are cranking their air-conditioning while officials scramble to move the unhoused into cooling centers. Even at night, the sweltering is relentless, thanks to the urban heat island effect: The concrete and brick of this metropolis absorbs the sun’s energy during the day and releases it throughout the evening.

      There is no relief, and then suddenly there’s disaster: The grid fails, snatching away the AC that’s staving off mass heat illness. If this scenario were to unfold across Phoenix, according to a recent paper, half of the city’s 1.6 million people would need medical attention. More than 13,000 would die.

      https://www.wired.com/story/a-grid-collapse-would-make-a-heat-wave-far-deadlier/