Chris Mullington
ON THE RECORD · 7 verbatim quotes · every quote source-verified
“reinforces that dangerous heat cannot be defined by one universal temperature threshold. It depends partly on who is being exposed”
Chris Mullington · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Mullington explained that the new study shows dangerous heat depends on who is exposed, not a single threshold.
“Those 180 hours are accumulated across the year and are not necessarily continuous,”
Chris Mullington · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Mullington clarified how the 180-hour heat exposure threshold is measured.
“Humidity, sunlight, air movement, physical activity, clothing and an individual’s capacity to lose heat all matter,”
Chris Mullington · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Mullington listed factors beyond air temperature that affect heat risk.
“Conditions that a healthy young adult might still tolerate could already cause an older person to store heat, experience a rising core temperature and suffer serious illness including heatstroke,”
Chris Mullington · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Mullington described how heat tolerable to young adults can cause serious illness in older people.
“A relatively small rise in the global average shifts the entire temperature distribution, producing a much larger increase in the frequency, severity and duration of conditions at the dangerous extreme.”
Chris Mullington · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Mullington explained how small rises in global average temperature increase the frequency of extreme heat conditions.
“Importantly, this describes exposure to potentially uncompensable conditions; it does not mean that everyone exposed will inevitably become ill.”
Chris Mullington · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Mullington noted that exposure to uncompensable heat conditions does not guarantee illness.
“Previous assessments often assumed that everyone could tolerate heat as well as a healthy young adult, which substantially underestimated the risk to older people,”
Chris Mullington · said date not stated · reported 2026-08-19
Mullington commented on how previous heat risk assessments underestimated danger to older people.