A climate disaster takes victims from the very beginning. Streets and houses destroyed, daily life stopped and lives lost. But the impact goes further, with survivors having to deal with financial and mental problems. And could the consequences go even further? Yes, according to a recent study. Extreme weather events can accelerate aging, at least in our “cousins” rhesus monkeys.
A research published in the scientific journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) points out that in these animals a major hurricane led to an aging of almost two years (1.96, more specifically), which on a human life scale it would mean about seven or eight years longer.
The publication took place on the 7th. A week later, all the devastation and the subsequent problems involved in a climatic disaster were materialized in images in the storm that punished Petrópolis, in Rio de Janeiro, and took the lives of more than 180 people until the at the moment, with more than 100 still missing.
According to the researchers, there is already documentation that survivors of extreme events have a higher incidence of cardiovascular problems and chronic inflammation. The study points out that premature immune aging may be the mechanism by which disasters become diseases.
“While everyone ages, not everyone ages at the same rate,” the scientists say in the study.
This is because the environment around us can lead to different ways of regulating genes (almost an on and off button or a light intensity dimmer). The result of this is, in a very summarized way, differences in the production of proteins – which can be associated with various functions of our body.
Extreme events could then “biologically mark” us — in addition to all the other marks left by these tragedies — and alter the functioning of our immune system.
To verify the weight that an extreme weather event can have on senescence, the researchers looked at part of the inhabitants of the island Cayo Santiago, in Puerto Rico. More specifically, the 1,8000 rhesus monkeys residing there, who have been monitored for decades.
And why Cayo Santiago?
In September 2017, the island was the first region of Puerto Rico to be hit by Hurricane Maria, category 4 (the highest value on the scale is 5), which caused extensive damage to vegetation and island structures.
This hurricane is a good example of how an extreme event is far from having a momentary impact. While the official estimate of deaths was a few dozen, a later study raised the number to at least more than 4,000 people, with deaths still occurring months after the catastrophe, with the interruption of health services, for example.
Rhesus macaques are widely present in studies because of their many human-like characteristics. Among the similarities are the aging processes, despite the life expectancy corresponding to about ¼ of a human being’s life (which in studies allows an “accelerated” analysis of effects, as if researchers watched a video equivalent to the life of a human being. a human, but with 4 times the speed).
The monkeys in Cayo Santiago are constantly provided with water and food, which was not interrupted even by the hurricane. Thus, breaks in feeding can be excluded as a source of confusion in the study.
The scientists, using blood samples, sought to verify how the hurricane influenced the regulation of genes related to immunity and aging cells. As the animals had been monitored for a long time, a database already existed prior to the climatic catastrophe.
In general, the researchers observed a disturbance in the “protein machine” (called protein homeostasis or proteostasis), responsible for a kind of balance of performance in the body, with the production, disposal of proteins, etc. Malfunction of this machinery is a known hallmark of age-related illness.
That is, exposure to the hurricane increased problems with the protein machinery of animals and may contribute to the progression of age-related diseases.
“Our findings suggest that differences in immune cell gene expression in animals exposed to an extreme natural disaster were, in many ways, similar to the effects of the natural aging process,” the authors state.
It is also worth mentioning that the changes verified were not momentary. They were observed a year after the hurricane.
The findings may encourage a more careful understanding of aging and adversity modifiers, which makes possible mitigation actions for populations that have been victimized by extreme adversity, the scientists say.
Climate studies point to troubling decades ahead of human civilization. Even if humanity now completely stopped emitting greenhouse gases (which is not a realistic prospect), the average global temperature would continue to rise.
Experts and research point out that efforts to reduce gas emissions — and consequently control the climate crisis — so far have not been enough.
The most recent report by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) already points out that the climate crisis is installed and that extreme weather events must become more intense and more frequent. According to the same report, some changes in nature caused by planetary warming are irreversible.
The problem still unfolds for other climate-related areas. In addition to not being enough efforts to contain global warming, investments and efforts in adaptation (to try to contain the ravages of climate change) are below what is necessary, even with the undeniable advance of the impact of climate change.
In other words, in general terms, while the cost of adapting to the climate crisis to be put into practice in countries increases, climate financing remains the same or decreases. This is even more important in developing countries, where the estimated costs for adaptation are five to ten times higher than the current investment.
