Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, 11 Mandalay Road, Singapore 308232, Singapore.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Oct 24;17(21):7795. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17217795.
The international community has recognized global warming as an impending catastrophe that poses significant threat to life on earth. In response, the signatories of the Paris Agreement (2015) have committed to limit the increase in global mean temperature to < 1.5 °C from pre-industry period, which is defined as 1950-1890. Considering that the protection of human life is a central focus in the Paris Agreement, the naturally endowed properties of the human body to protect itself from environmental extremes should form the core of an integrated and multifaceted solution against global warming. Scholars believe that heat and thermoregulation played important roles in the evolution of life and continue to be a central mechanism that allows humans to explore, labor and live in extreme conditions. However, the international effort against global warming has focused primarily on protecting the environment and on the reduction of greenhouse gases by changing human behavior, industrial practices and government policies, with limited consideration given to the nature and design of the human thermoregulatory system. Global warming is projected to challenge the limits of human thermoregulation, which can be enhanced by complementing innate human thermo-plasticity with the appropriate behavioral changes and technological innovations. Therefore, the primary aim of this review is to discuss the fundamental concepts and physiology of human thermoregulation as the underlying bases for human adaptation to global warming. Potential strategies to extend human tolerance against environmental heat through behavioral adaptations and technological innovations will also be discussed. An important behavioral adaptation postulated by this review is that sleep/wake cycles would gravitate towards a sub-nocturnal pattern, especially for outdoor activities, to avoid the heat in the day. Technologically, the current concept of air conditioning the space in the room would likely steer towards the concept of targeted body surface cooling. The current review was conducted using materials that were derived from PubMed search engine and the personal library of the author. The PubMed search was conducted using combinations of keywords that are related to the theme and topics in the respective sections of the review. The final set of articles selected were considered "state of the art," based on their contributions to the strength of scientific evidence and novelty in the domain knowledge on human thermoregulation and global warming.
国际社会已经认识到全球变暖是即将到来的灾难，对地球上的生命构成重大威胁。为此，《巴黎协定》（2015 年）的签署国承诺将全球平均气温的增幅限制在工业化前时期的 1.5°C 以内，工业化前时期定义为 1950-1890 年。考虑到保护人类生命是《巴黎协定》的核心焦点，人体自身保护免受环境极端影响的自然属性应该成为应对全球变暖的综合和多方面解决方案的核心。学者们认为，热量和体温调节在生命进化中发挥了重要作用，并且仍然是人类在极端条件下探索、劳动和生活的核心机制。然而，国际社会应对全球变暖的努力主要集中在保护环境和通过改变人类行为、工业实践和政府政策减少温室气体排放方面，而对人体体温调节系统的性质和设计考虑有限。预计全球变暖将挑战人体体温调节的极限，可以通过将适当的行为改变和技术创新与人类固有的热塑性相结合来增强人体体温调节能力。因此，本综述的主要目的是讨论人体体温调节的基本概念和生理学，作为人类适应全球变暖的基础。还将讨论通过行为适应和技术创新来延长人体对环境热量的耐受能力的潜在策略。本综述提出的一个重要行为适应是，睡眠/觉醒周期将倾向于亚夜间模式，特别是对于户外活动，以避免白天的热量。从技术上讲，目前在房间内调节空间温度的概念可能会转向针对身体表面冷却的概念。本综述使用从 PubMed 搜索引擎和作者的个人图书馆中获取的材料进行。使用与综述各部分主题和主题相关的关键词组合在 PubMed 上进行搜索。根据它们对科学证据强度的贡献和人体体温调节和全球变暖领域知识的新颖性，选择的最后一组文章被认为是“最新的”。
