Sudden temperature changes more deadly than heat waves, says study

Science : Climate change is causing not only more summer heat waves but also increased temperature variability, in both summer and winter. And it is sudden temperature changes that pose the greater threat for human health, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change. Joel Schwartz of Harvard University and colleagues looked at death records for some 3 million people aged 65 years or older who lived in New England between 2000 and 2008. They found that the relief provided by global warming’s milder winters did not outweigh the danger of hotter summers. But worse still are the abrupt temperature swings brought on by climate change because they don’t allow time for people’s cardiovascular and respiratory systems to adapt. To see whether the same trends hold in other regions of the world, the researchers plan to look at areas where people are more accustomed to warmer temperatures and don’t rely as much on air conditioning.