[Verse 1]
Sweating like a pig
(Doing a dirge jig)
Just another fool
(Trying to stay cool)

[Bridge]
Can you beat
(The heat)

[Chorus]
Thermoregulation
(Whoa, don’t sweat it)
Thermoregulation
(No, don’t bet on it)

[Verse 2]
Sweating is starting to cease
(Soon to be deceased)
Just another fool
(Trying to stay cool)

[Bridge]
Can you beat
(The heat)

[Chorus]
Thermoregulation
(Whoa, don’t sweat it)
Thermoregulation
(No, don’t bet on it)

[Outro]
Can’t sweat it
(Will regret it)
Can’t beat
(The heat)
Man’s retreat
Can’t beat
(The heat)
Man’s defeat

ABOUT THE SCIENCE

The most immediate and deadly health risk from climate change is not simply heat–it’s the combination of heat and humidity, known as deadly humid heat or wet-bulb temperature. This phenomenon is already threatening lives across the globe and increasingly within the United States.

As temperatures rise, so does the atmosphere’s capacity to hold water vapor. The Clausius-Clapeyron equation explains this: for every 1°C (1.8°F) increase in temperature, the air can hold about 7% more moisture. This additional humidity prevents our bodies from cooling through sweat, creating dangerous and potentially fatal conditions.

A wet-bulb temperature is measured using a thermometer wrapped in a wet cloth, mimicking the body’s sweat-based cooling. When the air is too humid, evaporation slows or stops, and the body can no longer cool itself. A 2022 study, Adaptability Limit to Climate Change Due to Heat Stress, found that a wet-bulb temperature of 35°C (95°F) at 100% humidity–or even 115°F at 50% humidity–is the upper limit of survivability.

Beyond this threshold, even in the shade and with water, the body begins to overheat. Symptoms include confusion, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, nausea, and ultimately, fatal heatstroke. These effects can occur within hours, and without cooling infrastructure, medical intervention, or access to safe shelter, death is a likely outcome.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) warns that each degree Celsius of warming increases atmospheric moisture by 7%. Global sea surface temperatures are now at record highs, increasing atmospheric water vapor by 5-15% compared to pre-1970s levels.

A 2023 study by Purdue and George Mason universities, Greatly Enhanced Risk to Humans from Lower Moist Heat Stress Tolerance, projects that 1.5 billion people could be exposed to deadly heat stress at just 3°C (5.4°F) of warming. In summer 2023, the Earth experienced over a month of temperatures above this threshold. Europe saw over 61,000 heat-related deaths in 2022 alone.

In Brazil, the effects were stark: Rio de Janeiro hit a record temperature of 42.5°C (108.5°F) in November 2023. With humidity, the heat index soared to 59.3°C (138.7°F)–lethal even to healthy individuals. A young concertgoer at a Taylor Swift concert in Rio tragically died due to these conditions. This isn’t an anomaly–it’s a harbinger of the future.

Thermoregulation

The primary roles of the pores in the skin are for secretion and temperature regulation.

Releasing Sweat: Tiny sweat pores, connected to eccrine glands, release perspiration to the surface of the skin. The evaporation of this sweat is essential for cooling the body down and regulating core temperature (thermoregulation).

WARNING!

* Our probabilistic, ensemble-based climate model — which incorporates complex socio-economic and ecological feedback loops within a dynamic, nonlinear system — projects that global temperatures are becoming unsustainable this century. This far exceeds earlier estimates of a 4°C rise over the next thousand years, highlighting a dramatic acceleration in global warming. We are now entering a phase of compound, cascading collapse, where climate, ecological, and societal systems destabilize through interlinked, self-reinforcing feedback loops.

What Can I Do?
The single most important action you can take to help address the climate crisis is simple: stop burning fossil fuels.

From the album “Porous“