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Europe is gripped by heat: High temperatures are crossing the limit of what the human body can endure

2023-07-15 16:00:07Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Europe is gripped by heat: High temperatures are crossing the limit of what the
Tourists in Rome

Experts have revealed that the human body has a "temperature limit" between 40 degrees and 50 degrees, a limit that if exceeded, can cause the human body to stop working.

The scorching temperatures that have engulfed all of Europe forced the Italian authorities to expand the map of cities where the red alert is in effect from 10 to 15 cities.

Preventive measures came into effect in Rome, Florence and Bologna, among other cities, where citizens are advised to avoid leaving their homes at lunchtime, when the heat is even higher.

It is predicted that the temperatures will be even higher next week not only in Italy, but also in Spain, Greece and even Germany and Poland.

Meteorologists predict that the "Cerberus" wave will break the heat record set in 2021 in Sicily with 48.8 degrees Celsius. This week, temperatures in southern European countries exceeded 40 degrees Celsius.

This forced the Greek authorities to close the Acropolis, which is visited by millions of tourists every year, to visitors. The surrounding areas risk facing fires, so citizens are urged to avoid them as much as possible.

The high temperatures are also pushing the limit of what our body can endure

A recently published study showed that due to the heat wave over 61,000 people died last summer in Europe, when the temperatures were close to the same season this year, while experts have discovered how hot it is "very hot ” for our body.

According to a recent study published by researchers at the University of Roehampton in London, the human body has a "high critical temperature" which it can safely tolerate between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius. After reaching this temperature, our body experiences "heat stress," a condition that causes confusion, vomiting, dizziness, headaches, and fainting.

"Temperatures in Europe have risen by about two degrees compared to pre-industrial conditions over the last few decades, and this is somewhere around twice the global average," says Matthew Patterson, assistant professor at the University of Oxford.

He said that Europe will continue to have record heat, something that is very harmful to people.

How did experts find the body temperature limit?

Professor Lewis Halsey, researcher at the University of Roehampton in London, and his colleagues conducted an experiment in 2021 with 4 men and 3 women to measure the body temperature limit.

"What we were recording was an increase in metabolic rate," Halsey said. Metabolic rate measures how much energy the human body consumes to continue 'work'.

When it's hot outside, our body has different ways to cool down and lower the internal temperature, including sweating.

What also happens when it's hot outside, Halsey and his colleagues found, is that our metabolic rate increases, which in turn raises our body temperature.

How hot is too hot?

According to Halsey, "everyone is different" and people's response to heat can vary significantly depending on age, gender and existing health problems.

"Some people's metabolic rate didn't go up to 40 degrees, it went up to 50 degrees," he said.

"The body works hard to protect the core temperature, it doesn't like it to change. If it increases by a degree or two, it does not cause harm to most people. Some marathon runners have a core temperature of 42 degrees, and this is due to running in a hot environment, but even runners begin to suffer at temperatures of 44 degrees.

Children and the elderly are among the most vulnerable categories to extreme heat, as their cardiovascular systems do not react well to high temperatures.

What happens when the body gets too hot?

There are a number of things that happen when your body gets too hot, Halsey said, as extreme heat can cause the temperature to rise to a point where it generates a dangerous effect that can lead to health problems and even death.

"The body's proteins start to stop working and the nerve impulses don't work as well. The nervous system is less effective, and this affects the body as well. All of this also starts to affect the heart," says Halsey.

"When we talk about climate change, it's people we're thinking about in particular," Patterson says, adding that researchers are trying to figure out how to live on a planet that's two or more degrees hotter.


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