75% of Heat-Related Deaths in Mexico Occur in People Under 35, Study Finds [Video]

A new study has found that 75 percent of heat-related deaths in Mexico occur among people under the age of 35, rather than in older people, as might be expected.

Of these younger people, a large percentage were from 18 to 35 — an age range that might be perceived to be the most able to tolerate heat.

“It’s a surprise. These are physiologically the most robust people in the population,” said Jeffrey Shrader, co-author of the study and a researcher at Columbia Climate School affiliate the Center for Environmental Economics and Policy, in a press release from Columbia Climate School. “I would love to know why this is so.”

Mexico was chosen for the study since it collects detailed geographical data on daily temperatures and mortality. The research team correlated excess mortality — the number of below- or above-average deaths — with temperatures on the “wet-bulb scale.” The wet-bulb scale is a measurement of the heightened …