Heat extremes are the deadliest type of weather, and the human-caused climate crisis is making heat waves more severe and longer lasting. With high humidity, conditions in some places are approaching the limits of human survival – the point where our bodies cannot easily adapt.
Here’s what happens to your body in the heat:
Dehydration: Sweating is the body’s way of cooling itself – but it can also make you dehydrated because you may be losing fluids faster than you can compensate for them. So don’t wait until you feel thirsty to drink.
Heart: Your heart has to work much harder to keep your body’s internal temperature constant, pushing blood faster toward your skin, where it can release heat – which is why you may look flushed when you’re hot. And as you sweat, the loss of fluids reduces blood volume, which means your heart is forced to pump even harder to maintain blood pressure.
Brain: In extreme heat, blood flow to your brain is reduced as breathing speeds up and blood vessels inside your neck and skull constrict. This deprives your brain of needed oxygen and glucose, potentially affecting your cognitive abilities, worsening any mental health conditions and leading to risky or poor decision making.
heat stroke: When the body can’t use its normal mechanisms for cooling, its core temperature can reach catastrophic levels. A person suffering from heatstroke may become disoriented and lose consciousness. Major organs begin to shut down – the barriers separating the intestine from the rest of the intestines can become more porous, allowing deadly toxins to leak into the bloodstream and cause heart failure.
Read more about the effects of heat and how to keep yourself safe here.
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