Do rising temperatures and heat waves lead to stress?
The issue has been studied mostly in developed countries. What we know is that with rising temperatures, the number of deaths also goes up. Most of these deaths, that are attributed to immediate rise in daily temperature, are caused by heart attacks or respiratory failures. Very few studies have been done in this connection in developing countries. Who are more vulnerable? Elderly people, people suffering from various ailments and poor people living in low-quality houses are at a higher risk from heat waves. The Chicago heat wave of 1995 killed several hundreds of people; most of them were poor, living in small, unventilated apartments. Some death cases were also reported because of social unrests triggered by extreme heat. Behavioural disorders were noticed as people locked themselves in their apartments which got overheated. What are the other health problems? Interesting links between climate change and obesity have been observed among the Inuit people. With rising temperatures, per
