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Climate · Health
ProblemThe human body has precise limits when facing extreme heat
Published: May 2026
What happened
Experimental measurements indicate that, beyond certain combinations of temperature and humidity, the dissipation of body heat becomes insufficient and internal temperature keeps rising.
The limit is not the same for everyone: age, physical condition and duration of exposure significantly modify individual risk.
Why it matters
Adaptation is essential, but it does not make human beings limitlessly adaptable to ever higher temperatures.
What we know — and what we still don't
We know
- Physiological thresholds exist beyond which thermoregulation no longer compensates for accumulated heat.
Sources
Environment InternationalScientific paper
Experimental research on the physiological limits to extreme heat
May 2026