How much heat a human body can withstand

With severe heat waves scorching many parts of the world and July being nominated as the hottest month in several decades as temperatures soared to 50 degree Celsius in some parts, fiery debates are on among the experts as whether the human body can withstand so much heat.

The 4th July was the hottest day on the Earth.

According to some researches, the human body may stop functioning if the outside temperature is too much.
But how much is too much is the million dollar question.

Temperatures soared to above 50 C is some parts of China and the USA recently forcing the authorities to use bags filled with ice to cool the patients admitted in the hospitals there.

The United Nations has also issued a warning saying that we now live in the era of ‘’global boiling’’.

The UK also experienced its hottest season in the month of June 2023. Incidentally in June last year the UK had experienced temperature above 40 C for the first time. It is worth mentioning that last year heat waves had claimed 60 thousand lives across Europe.

The experts say that temperatures above 40 C affect the human body and its functioning. ‘’The physiology of the body changes quite considerably,’’ said one of the experts in a media report.

According to the experts the thermo-neutral zone is a range of temperatures in which the body doesn’t have to increase its metabolic rate or exert more energy to maintain its ideal core temperature of 37℃elsius or 98.6 Fahrenheit.

Studies have shown that the zone’s lower limit is 28 degree Celsius and beyond this the body expends more energy to maintain its ideal temperature.

At higher temperatures, the body uses other mechanisms to cool down, such as sweating and vasodilation of blood vessels at the skin surface to increase heat loss.

However, while the thermo-neutral zone’s lower range has been established, its upper limit is still uncertain.
Some studies have suggested that the thermo-neutral zone’s upper limit likely lies between 40℃ (104F) and 50℃ (122F).

With the global temperatures set to rise further owing to the global warming, we may well see a further rise in the upper limit in the near future.