After two years of record-breaking heat that brought a surge of deaths and health emergencies, several states have enacted or are considering measures designed to protect residents — with a new focus on younger people whose vulnerability is rising with the temperatures.
Nationally, heat-related deaths rose from about 1,000 in 2018 to 1,722 in 2022 and 1,784 so far in 2023, according to a Stateline analysis of federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Those totals are likely an underestimate because heat waves make death more likely from other causes as well.
The Stateline analysis considered heat-related deaths in CDC epidemiological research, known as Wonder data, where heat is listed as a direct or contributing cause. But deaths caused by heat more indirectly are much higher. A New York City analysis last year, for example, found an average 360 heat-exacerbated deaths in the city annually compared with 10 caused directly by heat.
Climate change is making the problem more urgent: Heat waves have been steadily rising in number and duration since the 1960s. States are responding with strategies that include public warnings, ice baths and cooling centers for those without air conditioning.
As climate change increases the number of extremely hot days, minority groups and people with low incomes will suffer disproportionately, said Samantha Artiga, director of racial equity and health policy at KFF, a national health policy think tank. A recent KFF report on heat-related deaths found the highest death rates were for Native American, Black and Hispanic people.
“We know that while climate change and extreme heat pose risks for everyone, those risks are not felt equally,” said Artiga, who co-wrote the report.
Stifling prison heat used to be just a Southern problem. Not anymore.
The summer of 2023 was the hottest on record globally, as was the 12-month period ending Oct. 31. A November report published in the…
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