{"id":369216,"date":"2025-03-09T17:21:47","date_gmt":"2025-03-09T16:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=369216"},"modified":"2025-03-09T17:21:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T16:21:49","slug":"no-yahoo-news-extreme-heat-isnt-accelerating-aging-and-its-not-getting-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=369216","title":{"rendered":"No, Yahoo News, \u201cExtreme Heat\u201d Isn\u2019t Accelerating Aging\u2014And It\u2019s Not Getting Worse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Heatwave over a city, bright sun, global warming, urban heat island. Generative AI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From ClimateRealism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n


By Anthony Watts<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Among other media outlets, Yahoo News recently posted an article, \u201cExtreme heat may speed up aging in older adults, USC study says<\/a>,\u201d published as a video story at CBS News Boston, claiming that \u201cextreme heat may speed aging and increase the risk of disease.\u201d This is false and misleading. While prolonged exposure to harsh environmental conditions can affect health, the claim that \u201cextreme heat\u201d is an increasing and worsening threat due to climate change is not supported by historical data. In fact, evidence suggests that extreme heat waves in the United States are not becoming more frequent or severe, and cold weather remains a far greater threat to human health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story is based on a University of Southern California (USC) press release<\/a> titled; Study: Extreme Heat May Speed Up Aging in Older Adults<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the press release, the author states, \u201cScientists are growing increasingly concerned about the long-term health effects of climate change, with new research suggesting extreme heat could speed up aging and lead to a host of other medical issues.\u201d<\/em> This type of speculative language is common in climate alarmist narratives\u2014using vague phrases like \u201cgrowing concern\u201d and \u201ccould\u201d rather than providing solid, demonstrable evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the published study<\/a> at Science Advances<\/em>, the study authors claim to be able to detect age enhancing DNA changes from blood tests done on older populations. The basis of their study is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers used mathematical tools called epigenetic clocks to analyze methylation patterns and estimate biological ages at each time point. They then compared participants\u2019 changes in biological age to their location\u2019s heat index history and number of heat days reported by the National Weather Service from 2010 to 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They provide this map of the United States showing areas of heat risk days above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Figure 1: Neat index history and number of heat days reported by the National Weather Service from 2010 to 2016. Source: National Weather Service.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Unsurprisingly, that map looks like a normal high temperature distribution for summer in the United States, with southern latitudes having the highest number of days above 90\u00b0F. That\u2019s not news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, data from Climate at a Glance<\/a> shows that heat waves in the U.S. were far more severe in the 1930s, particularly during the Dust Bowl years, than anything we see today. NOAA\u2019s temperature records confirm that the highest recorded temperatures and longest-lasting heat waves occurred nearly a century ago. If \u201cextreme heat\u201d were truly an escalating crisis, we would see a consistent upward trend in heat wave frequency and intensity, but that is simply not the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story and the study completely ignore this and other factors, such as the Urban Heat Island effect<\/a>, which has grown over the last several decades as city populations increase. Note the similarity of the Figure 1 map above with the Figure 2 map below.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Figure 2: Urban Heat Island Map of the United States. Source: Examples from our New UAH Urban Heat Island Dataset, November 7th, 2023 by Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Note that much of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Arizona, and Southern California have cities with strong UHI signatures, matching the same areas of the map provided by the study. UHI is not a product of climate change, but rather a propensity for increasing infrastructure to retain heat, and contribute to higher temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the study wrongly assumes that increased temperatures are the only reason for these aging changes in the DNA of people they studied. It is well known that several environmental and personal factors contribute to accelerating aging<\/a>, including exposure to pollutants, UV radiation, diet, physical activity, poor sleep quality, poor air quality, and lifestyle-related stressors such as drinking alcohol, obesity, and smoking. The study doesn\u2019t take any of these into account, leading to a conclusion that cannot be verified as being only temperature related.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the study only used data from 2010 to 2016. That short period data does not even come close to the 30 year requirement for a climate data set<\/a>, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization. Thus, short-term influences can be at work here rather than long-term climate change. For example, a strong El Ni\u00f1o event in 2015 and 2016 significantly increased temperatures in the United States. The El Ni\u00f1o of 2015-16 was among the strongest El Ni\u00f1o events observed since 1950, and thus added to the higher temperatures people experienced in the United States. In 2015, More than 4,000 daily record highs were set across the country, and in 2016 The U.S. experienced 5,350 daily record high temperatures according to data<\/a> from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A search of the study shows the authors completely ignore the El Ni\u00f1o event in 2015 and 2016 and the effect it had on high temperatures, wrongly attributing it to climate change. That is simply shoddy science by the researchers that enabled their false conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While researchers and media outlets like to focus on heat-related health risks, they consistently ignore the well-documented dangers of cold weather. A study published in The Lancet<\/em><\/a> found that cold-related deaths vastly outnumber heat-related deaths worldwide, by nearly a 10-to-1 margin. Cold temperatures exacerbate cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, leading to significantly higher mortality rates in winter than during heat waves. In the U.S., extreme cold events, winter storms, and power outages caused by \u201cgreen\u201d energy policies restricting reliable fossil fuels pose a greater risk to public health than summer heat. But instead of addressing the real danger\u2014how restrictive climate policies make heating more expensive\u2014media outlets continue their fixation on \u201cextreme heat\u201d as an existential threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This type of reporting is not about science; it\u2019s about pushing a climate crisis narrative. Instead of examining long-term historical data and other factors, the media selectively highlights flawed short-term studies and worst-case scenarios to create climate alarm. This article is just another example of that trend\u2014promoting fear without looking at the full picture. If the media were truly concerned about public health, they would focus on the deadly impact of cold weather and the policies that make energy more expensive, rather than pushing dubious claims about heat waves \u201caccelerating aging.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among other media outlets, Yahoo News recently posted an article, \u201cExtreme heat may speed up aging in older adults, USC study says,\u201d published as a video story at CBS News Boston, claiming that \u201cextreme heat may speed aging and increase the risk of disease.\u201d This is false and misleading. While prolonged exposure to harsh environmental conditions can affect health, the claim that \u201cextreme heat\u201d is an increasing and worsening threat due to climate change is not supported by historical data. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":369225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691833717,691819134,691818056,691820674,691833719,691833718,691819263,691820811],"class_list":{"0":"post-369216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-cbs-news-boston","9":"tag-climate-alarmism","10":"tag-climate-change","11":"tag-extreme-heat","12":"tag-risk-of-disease","13":"tag-speed-aging","14":"tag-urban-heat-island-effect","15":"tag-yahoo-news","17":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0-Extreme-Heat.jpeg?fit=1500%2C1004&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1y36","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":268401,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=268401","url_meta":{"origin":369216,"position":0},"title":"Wild Weather News Spreads Like\u00a0Wildfire","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"19\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"World Weather Attribution and its alarming report were trumpeted by Time magazine, touted by the NOAA website Climate.gov , and featured by CBS News, CNBC, Scientific American, CNN, the Washington Post, USAToday, and the New York Times, among others.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/OIG-38.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/OIG-38.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/OIG-38.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/OIG-38.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":214027,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=214027","url_meta":{"origin":369216,"position":1},"title":"Yahoo and AP are Wrong About Northeastern Drought","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"17\/08\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"An Associated Press (AP) story picked up by Yahoo News that claims that climate change is causing a trend towards hotter, drier summers and drought in the Northeastern United States. This is false.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-667.png?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-667.png?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-667.png?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-667.png?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-667.png?fit=1200%2C806&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":407122,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=407122","url_meta":{"origin":369216,"position":2},"title":"The Guardian Is Wrong: Cities Are Hotter Because of the UHI Effect, Not Increased CO\u2082","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/10\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Guardian published an article, \u201cWorld\u2019s major cities hit by 25% leap in extremely hot days since the 1990s,\u201d asserting that global warming has caused a sharp rise in the number of extremely hot days in cities worldwide, citing an International Institute for Environment and Development analysis that claims urban\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"1540 megadrought\"","block_context":{"text":"1540 megadrought","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=1540-megadrought"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQPKDRdw0NUnHkE5lEr4_zU5Od109A6VZuKSZb7d9ssAuE9rQRwSdrBWJqxKvZ7YHap1bJ-lm4Yy8L9oX72OAw9rW1g20gvm-mxuJWuDwv6VlgisSfWisgrHjDi3yZmB-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQPKDRdw0NUnHkE5lEr4_zU5Od109A6VZuKSZb7d9ssAuE9rQRwSdrBWJqxKvZ7YHap1bJ-lm4Yy8L9oX72OAw9rW1g20gvm-mxuJWuDwv6VlgisSfWisgrHjDi3yZmB-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQPKDRdw0NUnHkE5lEr4_zU5Od109A6VZuKSZb7d9ssAuE9rQRwSdrBWJqxKvZ7YHap1bJ-lm4Yy8L9oX72OAw9rW1g20gvm-mxuJWuDwv6VlgisSfWisgrHjDi3yZmB-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQPKDRdw0NUnHkE5lEr4_zU5Od109A6VZuKSZb7d9ssAuE9rQRwSdrBWJqxKvZ7YHap1bJ-lm4Yy8L9oX72OAw9rW1g20gvm-mxuJWuDwv6VlgisSfWisgrHjDi3yZmB-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQPKDRdw0NUnHkE5lEr4_zU5Od109A6VZuKSZb7d9ssAuE9rQRwSdrBWJqxKvZ7YHap1bJ-lm4Yy8L9oX72OAw9rW1g20gvm-mxuJWuDwv6VlgisSfWisgrHjDi3yZmB-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C648&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":388587,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=388587","url_meta":{"origin":369216,"position":3},"title":"No, CBS Boston, Climate Isn\u2019t Making \u201cExtreme Heat the New Normal\u201d","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/07\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"In the CBS Boston (CBS-B) article titled \u201cIs extreme heat the new normal in Boston? 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