If the average temperature rises by 1 degree Celsius, (or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) the number of American adults suffering from diabetes would rise by more than 100,000 a year, a new study suggests.

People develop type 2 diabetes when their extra pounds and sedentary lifestyle make their bodies less sensitive to insulin.

Researchers thought they might find a link between rising temperatures and diabetes for a completely different reason — the activity of brown fat. This fat kicks into gear when temperatures are low and the body needs heat to stay warm.

A 2015 study of eight adults with Type 2 diabetes found that after spending 10 days in moderately cold weather, their metabolisms improved and they became more sensitive to insulin.

Findings like this led Dutch researchers to wonder whether climate change could explain some of the worldwide increase in diabetes. In 1980, 108 million adults had the disease; by 2014, that figure was 422 million, according to the World Health Organization.

The researchers found that the higher the average temperature in a particular time and place, the higher the age-adjusted incidence of diabetes. As the average annual temperature rose by 1 degree Celsius, the number of diabetes cases rose by 3.1 per 10,000 people.

Obesity is a risk factor for Type 2 diabetes, and the researchers also found that each 1-degree Celsius temperature increase was associated with a 0.173 percent increase in the prevalence of obesity.

Los Angeles Times