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We tend to believe that older people are the ones who should be protected most from high temperatures. After all, a new study tells us to look at younger people (but not necessarily children).
The number of deaths caused by extreme heat waves has been the highest ever in recent years.
A new one published in Science Advances on December 6, carried out in Mexico, revealed that since 1998 the majority of heat-related deaths have occurred in people aged between 18 and 34 — the group that could be expected to be physically most capable of withstanding extreme humidity and heat, says .
“It’s a surprise“, the environmental and labor economist Jeffrey Shraderfrom Columbia University. “These are physiologically the most robust people in the population. I would like to know why this happens.”
The choice of Mexico came about because it is a country with very accurate data on this type of deaths. Between 1998 and 2019, there were about 3,300 annual heat-related deaths. Almost a third of deaths occurred in people aged 18 to 34.
It is not possible to find an exact answer as to why this statistic exists, but researchers believe that younger individuals, for example, are more likely to participate in outdoor activitiesand are also more likely to work in outdoor occupations with little flexibility for extreme weather events.
“Our conclusion that young people in Mexico are especially vulnerable to heat could have global implications,” the authors explain. “You warmer, lower-income countries — expected to be most affected by climate change — have one of the youngest populations in the worldcurrently and for the next century.”
In a scenario of a world increasingly affected by climate change, researchers predict that Heat-related deaths in people under 35 could increase by 32% in Mexico by 2100.
Now, the study continues to other countries, to try to find out if the same thing happens around the world, and how this can help prevent this type of deaths.
