The Lancet Planetary Health, 19 July 2025

Improving heat adaptation with integrated scientific approaches

Heat adaptation refers to the body’s ability to adjust to stress during extreme temperatures through physiological, behavioural, and technological means. The comfortable temperature range, defined as the temperature range within which health risks are minimised, is closely interrelated with a population’s degree of heat adaptation.

Indeed, exposure to temperatures outside the optimal thermal comfort range is associated with increased risks of hospitalisation and premature mortality worldwide every year, especially during heat waves and cold spells. The comfortable temperature range of a region could be largely driven by its most frequent temperature. Thus, as global warming continues, investigating the comfortable temperature range is essential in global health studies to protect civilisations from the adverse effects of exposure to extreme temperatures. However, challenges remain in the current understanding of heat adaptation measurement and intervention.