How the Body Avoids Cooking to Death in an Overheating World

Thanks to a network of detectors, the brain is able to tune the body as needed to either push the core body temperature up or down.

By Matt Hrodey
Sep 7, 2023 7:00 PM
Overheated woman fanning herself on the couch
When the body overheats, it slows the metabolism, pushes blood to the skin and ramps up sweating. (Credit: fizkes/shutterstock)

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After a sweltering, record-setting summer, what do we have to look forward to? Most likely an even hotter one in 2024, meteorologists say, as the El Niño event in the Pacific peaks and warms the globe even further.

As human beings, our survival will depend on our bodies’ ability to regulate our internal temperature.

What Is the Normal Temperature for a Human Body?

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