What increasing heat does to our bodies
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
With record-high temperatures becoming the norm — and Portland seeing mid-90s this week — humans are more regularly hitting the threshold of our ability to cope with heat.
Why it matters: Scorching temperatures are triggering health emergencies across the U.S. as climate change makes extreme heat waves more common and dangerous.
Between the lines: "Our body is extraordinary. It's able to keep our core body temperature within a few tenths of a degree. That stabilization allows us to thrive," Kevin Lanza, an assistant professor at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, previously told Axios.
- The body typically cools itself through a mixture of sweat and evaporation, as well as the constriction and dilation of different veins to move blood around and transport heat from the core to other parts and then be released, he said.
- That's why, while it sounds obvious, water and rest are essential.
Zoom in: The population centers in the Pacific Northwest have historically been somewhat immune from dangerously high temperatures, but that's changing.
- The 2021 heat dome spiked temperatures in Portland to a record 116 degrees, killing 72 people in Multnomah County and hundreds more across the region.
- Of those who died, the vast majority were older and lived alone.
- Climate change is expected to boost average annual temperatures in Oregon more than 7 degrees by 2100, unless greenhouse gas emissions are substantially reduced.
Threat level: Heat illness can shut down systems throughout the body, leading to long-term injury or death.
- Impacts include cardiac arrhythmias, impaired kidney function and heart attacks.
The bottom line: Oregon health officials urge residents to stay hydrated and check on vulnerable people as the climate continues to warm.