Projection of temperature-related mortality among the elderly under advanced aging and climate change scenario

Abstract

Advanced aging is expected to become a major social problem in China during the second half of the 21st century. Current projections of temperature-related mortality in the context of advanced aging are inadequate, and may underestimate the risks posed by global warming on people aged 90+ years. The present study addresses this issue in Nantong City, which was the city in China with the highest aging and advanced aging rates in the 2000, 2010, and 2020 population censuses. Based on 27 global climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 and statistical downscaling methods, the impacts of climate change and advanced aging on future temperature-related elderly mortality were explored. Our results indicate that global warming will continue to increase the proportion of people who die from non-optimal temperatures even without considering the impact of advanced aging. Moreover, a higher warming range led to a more significant increase in net-temperature-related mortality and advanced aging is likely to increase heat-related mortality and offset the decline in cold-related mortality. Our study demonstrates a “1 + 1 > 2” effect between advanced aging and climate change, under the four shared socioeconomic pathway climate change scenarios considered here. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the impact of climate change on elderly health and facilitate the development of more effective adaptive strategies for advanced aging societies.