Heat Deaths Jump in Southwest United States, Puzzling Officials

[Eugene]

Source: New York Times

Heat Deaths Jump in Southwest United States, Puzzling Officials

By Christopher Flavelle and Nadja Popovich
Aug. 26, 2019
Updated 8:16 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON — Heat-related deaths have increased sharply since 2014 in Nevada and Arizona, raising concerns that the hottest parts of the country are struggling to protect their most vulnerable residents from global warming.

In Arizona, the annual number of deaths attributed to heat exposure more than tripled, from 76 deaths in 2014 to 235 in 2017, according to figures obtained from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heat-related deaths in Nevada rose almost fivefold during the same period, from 29 to 139.

Most of those deaths were in the Phoenix and Las Vegas areas, according to state records.

The long-term health effects of rising temperatures and heat waves are expected to be one of the most dangerous consequences of climate change, causing “tens of thousands of additional premature deaths per year across the United States by the end of this century,” according to the federal government’s Global Change Research Program. The effect could be even more severe in other parts of the world, potentially making parts of North Africa and the Middle East “uninhabitable.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/26/climate/heat-deaths-southwest.html

[bronxiteforever]

1. Kick and recommend for visibility.

[RockRaven]

2. Sorry, but what the fuck is "puzzling" about this to those "officials" or am I missing something?

Some of the hottest parts of the country, in a world which is getting hotter, have more people dying from heat. Wow, much hot, so confusion, wow.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. Not so puzzling.

A lot of older people in Arizona are living on a fixed income, and the cost of a/c is a lot. I'm sure it's even more expensive than when I last lived in Phoenix (1983-1987). Even then, there were elderly people who'd spend all day hanging out at a mall because they couldn't afford the a/c for their home. And when the overnight lows are still in the 90's (and probably ten degrees higher in much of the city), their residence simply isn't going to cool down on its own.

I know a lot of people there use swamp coolers instead, but they are only good for at best 20 degrees of cooling. So, if it's 115 in the middle of the day, you can get your place all the way down to 95 degrees.

[dhill926]

4. Ah well... reduce the surplus population...

repubs don't give a fuck about people...

[Xipe Totec]

5. Of Puzzled Officials nt