People living in urban areas that experience more days of extreme heat show signs of accelerated biological aging compared with those living in cooler areas.
The conclusion comes from a study published this week in the journal ‘Science Advances’, conducted by two researchers from the University of Southern California.
By analyzing multiple blood samples, collected between 2010 and 2016, from more than 3,600 people aged 56 or older, residing in the United States, the pair of scientists sought to understand the effects of environmental changes, in this case rising temperatures, on the participants’ genetic material.
These data were then cross-referenced with information about the days of heat felt in the places where these people live, to uncover links between temperature and biological age. Since multiple samples were taken from the same individuals, it was possible to observe the effects over time.
In sum, people living in areas that experienced more days of extreme heat were the ones who showed signs of faster biological aging.
The lead author explains, in a statement, that participants living in areas of the country where days with temperatures at or above 32 degrees Celsius, such as the American city of Phoenix, in the state of Arizona, “experienced up to 14 months of additional biological aging, compared with those living in areas with fewer than 10 hot days per year.”
“Simply by living in an area with more hot days, you are aging biologically faster,” she adds.
Older adults are particularly vulnerable to the effects of a warming planet, and with a human population that is aging, it is necessary to adopt measures that help mitigate these harmful effects.
“If the world is getting warmer everywhere and the population is aging, and these people are vulnerable, then we have to be much, much smarter about these mitigation strategies,” emphasizes the other author of the study.
