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.

中文翻译：

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人类体温调节和热适应的基本概念：全球变暖背景下的回顾


国际社会已认识到全球变暖是一场迫在眉睫的灾难，对地球上的生命构成重大威胁。作为回应，《巴黎协定》（2015 年）签署国承诺将全球平均气温较前工业化时期（定义为 1950 年至 1890 年）的增幅限制在 3℃ 1.5 °C 之内。考虑到保护人类生命是《巴黎协定》的核心焦点，人体自然赋予的保护自身免受极端环境影响的特性应成为应对全球变暖的综合、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的进化中发挥着重要作用，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通过改变人类行为、工业实践和政府政策来保护环境和减少温室气体排放，而对人类体温调节系统的性质和设计的考虑有限。全球变暖预计将挑战人类体温调节的极限，通过适当的行为改变和技术创新来补充人类固有的热可塑性，可以增强人类体温调节的极限。因此，本综述的主要目的是讨论人类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扩展人类对环境热的耐受性的潜在策略。 本次审查假设的一个重要的行为适应是，睡眠/觉醒周期会倾向于亚夜间模式，尤其是户外活动，以避免白天的炎热。从技术上讲，当前房间内空调的概念可能会转向有针对性的身体表面冷却的概念。当前的审查是使用来自 PubMed 搜索引擎和作者个人图书馆的材料进行的。 PubMed 搜索是使用与综述各部分的主题和主题相关的关键词组合进行的。最终选定的一组文章被认为是“最先进的”，因为它们对人类体温调节和全球变暖领域知识的科学证据的强度和新颖性的贡献。