06/24/2025

What Extreme Heat Does to the Human Body

Climate change is impacting where some people can live

Deadly heat waves have swept the globe and will continue to because of climate change.

For some, the trends are prompting doomsday questions: Will parts of the world soon become too hot to live in? How will we survive?

When it comes to heat, the human body is remarkably resilient — it is the humidity that makes it harder to cool down. And humidity, driven in part by climate change, is increasing. A measurement of the combination of heat and humidity is called a "wet-bulb temperature," which is determined by wrapping a completelywet wick around the bulb of a thermometer. Scientists are using this metric to figure out which regions of the world may become too dangerous for humans.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.