EXTREME AND DEADLY HEAT WAVES Part 1
HOW DOES OUR BODY REGULATE ITS CORE TEMPERATURE?
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THINGS GO WRONG?
The reality of manmade climate change is upon us. The summer of 2021 came in early with a big bang of sizzling heat waves that is shattering high temperature records in the Western US and Canada, killing hundreds of people, creating public health emergencies (especially for homeless, old and poor people), widespread drought, water shortages and crop failure. Multiple wildfires are engulfing large areas of the country. Other countries are facing huge storms with lethal flooding. Climate warming melts glaciers, icebergs and permafrost, raises sea levels, increases ocean water temperature and causes more water evaporation into the atmosphere. This is the root cause of big and destructive storms, torrential rains that cause lethal flooding, killing people, threatening and destroying roads, homes, buildings, power grids and drinking water supplies. Recent extensive flooding in Germany is a grim example of what is going to happen in the future, in increasing frequencies.
Yet, the politization of climate change, climate denials by the cynic politicians, by fossil fuel industries and by certain interest groups, sadly continues unabated.
How long are we going to bear these extreme and deadly atmospheric conditions that are induced by climate warming? What else has to happen to convince climate denials that manmade climate change is the root cause of all these catastrophic events? How long are we going to wait before climate calamities turn our life-giving planet Earth into lifeless planet Mars?
Some climate scientists think that it is already too late to do anything about it, and we have to learn how to live under increasing climate temperature. But the majority of climate scientists think that there is still time and a way out of this nightmare, by investing and rapid transformation to renewable clean energy sources on a worldwide basis. Only this approach can still stabilize the climate and ensure a safe future to our children and grandchildren. Short term concerns about the price tag and the inflation seems petty, compared to the moral imperative of our generation to act now and decisively, on climate change.
It is curious to know how our body regulates its core temperature when extreme heat waves are upon us. We are warm blooded creatures. Our body functions most effectively in a constant and stable core body temperature around 98.6F (36.8 C) degree of temperature. Our body’s organs, especially muscles generate a lot of heat when they are working. We all know how much we perspire when we workout. Our body also produces fever to fight infections. Heat is also absorbed from the environment and from the clothing we wear. Body’s temp slightly drops when we sleep or rest.
Our body is programmed to maintain its core temp at desired level in the following manners:
1. When heat receptors in our voluminous skin surface and internal organs sense increased temp, they send signals to the brain to activate the body’s thermostat mechanism.
2. The brain, through the hypothalamus region, signals eccrine (perspiration) glands on the skin (we have 2.5 million of them) to start to sweat.
3. Superficial blood vessels in the skin (capillaries) start to dilate to carry more diverted warm blood from the interior organs to the periphery, skin and face become flushed and red. Together with evaporation of cooling effects of sweats and flushing, significant amount of heat dissipate.
4. Triggered and labored breathing also contribute significantly to reduce body heat.
What happens when the outside temp is extremely high, and the body’s compensatory mechanism cannot cope with it? Our body overheats and things start going wrong very fast. Heat related conditions and illnesses settle in, even coma and death could occur. These topics would be discussed in upcoming part 2 of this article.
