Study: Heat-related deaths hit record high in 2023

Heat-related issues killed a record number of Americans in 2023, a new report found (Source: “Report says record number of Americans died of heat in 2023,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Aug. 27).
 
The study released Monday in the American Medical Association journal JAMA says 2,325 people died from heat last year. There were 21,518 heat-related deaths from 1999 to 2023, a 117% increase, the report says.
 
Heat-related deaths mostly varied until 2016, when they then began a steady increase of nearly 17% per year. But the study concludes that the number of heat-related deaths likely is underestimated because officials filling out death certificates do not always account for heat when determining cause of death.
 
The study’s authors say that the upward trend of heat-related deaths likely will not diminish and that community leaders must be prepared. Study co-author Dr. Jeffrey Howard, an associate professor of public health at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told USA Today most of the deaths in the U.S. were in traditionally hot areas such as Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas.