Olas de calor, envejecimiento y accesibilidad térmica: una propuesta teórica desde la gerontología ambiental
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Heatwaves have intensified as a climatic risk and a structural determinant of health, exerting disproportionate effects on ageing populations. Although thermal vulnerability in later life has been primarily explained through the physiology of ageing, this emphasis tends to underestimate the role of everyday living environments and the territorial inequalities that shape exposure and adaptive capacity. This article proposes the concept of thermal accessibility, grounded in environmental gerontology, as an analytical category to understand the effective capacity of the person–environment system to regulate heat exposure and sustain everyday functioning during episodes of extreme heat. An integrative theoretical model is advanced in which heat is conceptualised as a cumulative environmental stressor, and thermal accessibility operates as a central mediating mechanism between environmental thermal demands, functional competence, and ageing trajectories. The model incorporates multiscalar dimensions (housing, technology and information, community/territorial environment, and temporality of exposure) and derives theoretical propositions aimed at guiding the empirical operationalisation of the construct and the design of ageing-sensitive climate adaptation policies. It concludes that ensuring thermally accessible environments constitutes a material condition for the protection of rights in later life and requires intersectoral structural interventions across health, housing, social services, and territorial planning.
Author: Pablo De Gea-Grela
Institution: Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7169033842