New Study Says Heat Could Be Killing More Americans Than Previously Thought

A new study says that heat may be a more significant factor in killing more Americans that have been reported in the past. It has been reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that heat kills 600 people per year.

The new study published in the journal Environmental Epidemiology has estimated that on the average, the deaths of 5,600 people per year were partly due to heat. This is an estimate of deaths from 1997 to 2006 comprising populations of 297 counties that represent 60% of the entire U.S. population.

Most deaths were due only to moderately hot conditions instead of extremely high heat levels. The classification used by the study authors did not base heat on temperature; instead, they took into account the temperature levels considered normal for the specific regions included in the study.

Lead author and University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health occupational and environmental health assistant professor Kate R. Weinberger says that dangerously hot weather could depend on the region where you are. She explains that 90°F in Seattle may be a health hazard, but the same may not be accurate for Phoenix.

She adds that among the factors which contribute to the phenomenon are the various degrees in heat adaptation. For instance, she says, air conditioning can be more common in a place like Phoenix, which has frequent hot weather, compared to areas with cool climates such as Seattle. Weinberger states that demographics also affect the heat vulnerability of a population; mainly, heat is more dangerous to outdoor and farmworkers, the elderly, pregnant women, and children.

The study utilized the data of the National Center for Health Statistics in getting figures on the mortalities in the most densely populated counties, plus the PRISM or Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model, which provides estimates on temperatures up to a precision of four square kilometers.

Past researches utilized information on the death records in estimating heat mortalities. In contrast, the new study analyzed the association of those days, which were considered either moderately hot or extremely hot within a particular county, with death rates, regardless of cause. Results showed that, unlike the estimates of previous studies, there were thousands instead of hundreds of people whose deaths were linked to ambient heat.

Using this method, the study authors concluded that 3,309 people die each year from moderate heat in the studied counties, while 2,299 people died from extreme heat.

Boston University School of Public Health Climate and Health program director Gregory Wellenius says that the estimates are not dependent on the deaths being due to excessive heat, and are therefore more likely to be more accurate than past studies.

He says that heat is a serious threat to community and family health; public health officials need to implement heat action plans to warn people regarding extremely hot days and help them cope and adjust to the heat in order to minimize risks to health.

The study authors say that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be more difficult for people to stay cool in summer. Wellenius says new protocols should be made to keep residents safe from the heat as well as the coronavirus.

Due to more reliance on air conditioning at home and higher unemployment due to the lockdown, the heat will likely have a more substantial negative impact this year.