Professor Akimasa Hirata and Associate Professor Sachiko Kodera of the Nagoya Institute of Technology Graduate School of Engineering, graduate students Haruhiro Ueda and Tatsuya Matsuura, and a research group from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology have predicted the number of people transported to the hospital due to heatstroke in three major metropolitan areas in 2040. However, it turned out that the number is about twice as high as in 2010. The population in the three major metropolitan areas is either flat or slightly decreasing, but the rise in average temperature and the increase in the number of elderly people are expected to have an impact.
According to Nagoya Institute of Technology, a research group is looking into how the number of people transported to the hospital due to heatstroke will change in 2040 due to rising temperatures, which are thought to be the effects of global warming, and an increase in the elderly population. , Osaka Prefecture, and Aichi Prefecture as examples.
The information necessary for the forecast assumes that the global average temperature will rise by 2 degrees Celsius if no additional mitigation measures are taken to combat global warming, and takes into account the increase in the number of elderly people. The results showed that compared to 2010, there were approximately twice as many people being transported to hospitals due to heat stroke.
Elderly people have poorer body temperature regulation functions such as sweating than younger people, and are more likely to become seriously ill. Of the approximately 2021 people transported to hospitals due to heatstroke nationwide in 4, 8,000% were elderly. If temperatures continue to rise faster than predicted, there are concerns that the number of elderly people being transported will increase even further, leading to strained medical services.
The research group recommends that in preparation for a future increase in the number of people being transported to hospitals with heat stroke, it is necessary to improve the medical system and promote awareness-raising activities about heat stroke.
