New research suggests rising global temperatures are likely to contribute to a decrease in physical activity.
A group of researchers in South America studied more than 20 years' worth of temperature and activity data collected from 156 countries across the world. Their goal was to model how the two variables would interact come 2050.
The model showed every month the average temperature was higher than 82 degrees Fahrenheit, or 27.8 degrees Celsius, global physical inactivity would climb by 1.5% on average.
The effect was even more pronounced in equatorial regions including parts of Central America, the Caribbean, eastern sub-Saharan Africa, and southeast Asia.
"This is not just a climate story, it is also an inequality story. The places expected to face the greatest increases in climate-driven inactivity are often the same places with fewer resources to adapt," said lead author Christian García-Witulski.
The increase in inactivity could translate to between 470,000 an 700,000 additional premature deaths a year by 2050, the researchers found.
RELATED NEWS | Extreme heat expected to cause more cardiovascular deaths over time
Physical inactivity can increase the risk of health problems such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer.
Extreme high temperatures and humidity can also make physical exertion more dangerous, because it becomes more difficult for the body to cool itself.
According to one recent study, cardiovascular deaths caused by extreme heat are expected to grow nationwide in the U.S. between 2036 and 2065.
And another found the combination of extreme heat and high air pollution can nearly double a person's risk of suffering a fatal heart attack.
