Exposure to Heat Waves Speeding Up the Aging Process

Is the heat making us age faster? The data coming from a new research study thinks so. Here is what you need to know about extreme heat and the aging process.

What the New Data Says About the Impacts of Heat on Aging

A new study published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change is demonstrating that increasingly hot weather may be contributing to a faster aging process. The scientists involved in the study looked at 15 years of data extracted from approximately 25,000 adults in Taiwan to determine that two years of heat wave exposure could accelerate an individual's biological aging clock by eight to 12 additional days over a lifetime.

Although this may seem like an inconsequential amount of time, every little bit of accelerated aging can add up in the long term. The researchers from the University of Hong Kong were one of the first groups of scientists to study the long-term effects of heat.

For instance, while health experts have known for years that heat waves lead to a short-term increase in deaths, this is the first study of its kind to dive into the long-term cumulative effects of extreme heat.

What the researchers found was alarming. The data suggests that a person's biological age jumped by about nine days if they experienced four additional heat wave days over a period of two years. Manual workers who spend more time outside were the most impacted by the heat, with the data indicating a biological age increase of 33 days.

This is bad news for parts of the world that have seen an atypically hot summer. Record-breaking temperatures have been reported in various areas of the U.S, Europe, Japan, and Korea in the last month alone. Last year was not any better. According to the World Weather Attribution, 2024 was the hottest year on record, with climate change responsible for 41 additional days of extreme heat on a global scale.

Vulnerable Populations Most at Risk

Not surprisingly, the inherently more vulnerable populations are the most at risk of seeing accelerated aging at the hands of Mother Nature. For example, the study found that older people who have experienced several heat waves throughout the course of their lives may age at a faster pace than a younger individual with the same level of heat exposure.

The study also found that living without access to air conditioning can exacerbate the aging rate. Lastly, outdoor workers are also more vulnerable to accelerated aging.

The lead scientist on the study pointed out that accelerated aging is not the same thing as actually losing days from your life. Instead, the heat simply delivers a shift in the overall biological aging markers.

Scientists involved in this study defined a heat wave as a period of time spanning at least two straight days of abnormally high temperatures, as well as any time that officials issued heat warnings. The researchers also took into consideration the total of a person's heat exposure, the individual's weight, exercise habits, pre-existing health conditions, and whether or not they are smokers.

The bottom line is that this study is yet another indicator of the devastating consequences of climate change. As the planet gets increasingly hotter with each passing year, humans will also be under the threat of accelerated aging.

Weather changes fast — help your community stay prepared. Share this story with friends, family, or your group chat.