Infographics
Climate Changes Health: Extreme Heat
Published on: August 18, 2022.
More than 5 million people
die a year as the result of extreme heat or cold exposure around the world.
About this Data Insights
Globally, more than 5 million people die a year as the result of extreme heat or cold exposure. Within the United States, over 1,300 deaths per year are due to extreme heat. As temperatures continue to rise with climate change, extreme heat events are expected to worsen - increasing in frequency, severity, and duration - leading to an overall increase in heat-related mortality. New heat modeling projects that over 8.1 million Americans will experience temperatures exceeding 125 °F in 2023, and over 100 million Americans will face these temperatures by 2053.
This infographic highlights the dangers of extreme heat, the relationship with the built environment, and solutions to promote heat mitigation and management.
This infographic was reviewed by Jeremy S. Hoffman, Ph.D., David and Jane Cohn Scientist, Science Museum of Virginia
Extreme Heat Definition: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, About Extreme Heat, June 2017
Extreme Heat Variations: Ladd Keith, PhD, and Sara Meerow, PhD, American Planning Association, PAS Report 600: Planning for Urban Heat Resilience, April 2022
Extreme Heat Events Have Already Worsened: US Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change Indicators: Heat Waves, August 2022
Extreme Heat Events are Expected to: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Extreme Heat Can Impact Our Health In Many Ways, No Date
Since 1980: Elise Gout and Cathleen Kelly, The Center for American Progress, "It’s Time for Congress To Protect Americans From Deadly Extreme Heat", August 2021
The Impact of Extreme Heat on the Body: Christina Maxouris, CNN, "This is what happens to your body during extreme heat", June 2021
Who is Most at Risk: Environmental Protection Agency, Heat Islands and Equity, April 2022
Those with Limited Resources to Cope:
- Income and Mobility: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Heat and the Low Income, June 2017
- Air Conditioning Access: Lauren Kim, et al.; Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, "Beat the Heat: Extreme Heat Risk Perceptions & Air Conditioning Ownership in California", July 2021
Pre-Existing Medical Conditions: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Frequently Asked Questions About Extreme Heat, June 2012
#1 Weather Related Killer: Ladd Keith, PhD, and Sara Meerow, PhD, American Planning Association, PAS Report 600: Planning for Urban Heat Resilience, April 2022
More than 1,300 deaths: Sameed Ahmed M. Khatana, MD, MPH, Rachel M. Werner, MD, PhD, Peter W. Groeneveld, MD, MS, JAMA Network Open, Association of Extreme Heat with All-Cause Mortality in the Contiguous US, 2008 - 2017, May 2022
How are Extreme Heat and the Built Environment Related?
- Urban Heat Islands: Ladd Keith, PhD, and Sara Meerow, PhD, American Planning Association, PAS Report 600: Planning for Urban Heat Resilience, April 2022
- Built Environment Absorbs and Re-Releases Heat: Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change and Extreme Heat: What You Can Do to Prepare, October 2016
- Lost Green Spaces: Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change and Extreme Heat: What You Can Do to Prepare, October 2016
- Temperature Difference of Urban Heat Islands: Vivek Shandas et al., Climate, “Integrating Satellite and Ground Measurements for Predicting Locations of Extreme Urban Heat”, 2019
Heat Exposure, the Built Environment, and Equity
- Inequitably Distributed: Ladd Keith, PhD, and Sara Meerow, PhD, American Planning Association, PAS Report 600: Planning for Urban Heat Resilience, April 2022
- Historically Redlined: Brad Plumer, Nadja Popovich, and Brian Palmer, The New York Times, "How Decades of Racist Housing Policy Left Neighborhoods Sweltering", August 2020
- Uneven Distribution of Heat Absorbing Structures: Environmental Protection Agency, Heat Islands and Equity, April 2022
- Disproportionately Higher Levels of Heat: Angel Hsu, Glenn Sheriff, Tirthankar Chakraborty, and Diego Manya, Nature Communications, "Disproportionate exposure to urban heat island intensity across major US cities", May 2021
- Temperature Difference in Redlined Neighborhoods: Jeremy S. Hoffman et al., Climate, “The Effects of Historical Housing Policies on Resident Exposure to IntraUrban Heat: A Study of 108 US Urban Areas.”, 2020
What Can Individuals Do to Protect Themselves? Dani Blum, The New York Times, "How to Stay Cool and Safe in a Heat Wave", July 2022
How to Cope with Extreme Heat: Ladd Keith, PhD, and Sara Meerow, PhD, American Planning Association, PAS Report 600: Planning for Urban Heat Resilience, April 2022
- Extreme Heat Modeling: First Street Foundation, First Street Foundation Finds an emerging “Extreme Heat Belt” will Impact Over 107 Million Americans by 2053, August 2022
- Dangerous Heat Tracker: Matthew Bloch, Lazaro Gamio, Zach Levitt, Eleanor Lutz, and John-Michael Murphy, The New York Times, "Tracking Dangeous Heat in the US", August 2022
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