Why are older adults more susceptible to heat-related illness, and what can be done about it?

Jul 28, 2023

Older adults are more vulnerable to extreme heat than younger people as their bodies don't cool down efficiently. Image: Pexels/abhishek goel

Deborah Carr

CarrProfessor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Innovation in Social Science, Boston University

Giacomo Falchetta

Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Energy, Climate and Environment, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

Ian Sue Wing

Professor of Earth and Environment, Boston University

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During the July 2023 heat wave, people gathered at the Justa Center, a day cooling center in downtown Phoenix for people age 55 and older who are homeless.

During the July 2023 heat wave, people gathered at the Justa Center, a day cooling centre in downtown Phoenix for people age 55 and older who are homeless. Image: AP Photo/Matt York

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Randy Twede, 70, sits in the shade while waiting for the bus on July 10, 2023, in Austin, Texas. ‘These temperatures are no joke. I’m just trying to survive, that’s all,’ he told the photographer. Image: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Cooling degree days measure how hot a location is by counting each degree that the day's average temperature rises above 75.2°F. A day with an average temperature of 80.2°F would count as 5 cooling degree days. The map shows each county's population age 69 or older multiplied by its total number of cooling degree days over a year. Image: The Conversation/CC-BY-ND

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Standing in a fountain can help cool a person off to a point, but being exposed to the sun when the heat index is 100 F, as this day in New York City was in 2021, can be dangerous, especially for older adults. Image: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

One way to measure hazardous heat exposure faced by older adults is to multiply the number of people age 69+ by the 95th percentile maximum temperature. The result highlights many northern counties where most older homes weren't built with air conditioning. Image: The Conversation/CC-BY-ND

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