BUILDING RESILIENCE IN OUR PHYSIOLOGY
The mechanisms that regulate body temperature can adapt to manage a greater heat load through heat acclimatisation. This process involves gradual and daily exposure to a hot environment.
For most healthy individuals, heat acclimatisation may start from 20 to 30 minutes of walking at normal pace during the warmer part of the day and increasing in duration to 1 to 2 hours over 10 to 14 days.
Water should be consumed freely during the walk and the duration of walk should be based on individual physical ability, without causing symptoms of over-exertion such as heavy panting, exhaustion or dizziness.
There is evidence that heat acclimatisation brings about increased physical performance and lower body temperature when carrying out the same tasks.
ADJUSTING DAILY ROUTINES
Around the world, people are adjusting their daily routines to cope with rising heat. Cambodia has shortened school days by two hours to help children avoid peak daily temperature, and Spain and several Gulf states prohibit outdoor work during midday.
Across Europe and the Middle East, work and leisure are increasingly scheduled around cooler periods of the day. Early gym sessions and late-night construction are becoming more common. In a recent paper, I described this trend as a shift towards a semi-nocturnal lifestyle, where activities take place before sunrise and after sunset to avoid midday heat.
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