With changing climates come longer summers, hotter days, and more heat waves. Summer is now roughly 30 days longer than it was decades ago, according to researchers at Drexel University.
Extreme heat can affect everyone and everything, including our ecosystems, but there's one group in particular that is more vulnerable — those who experience homelessness.
What's happening?
A recent study by Boston University School of Public Health revealed there is a strong link between extreme heat and mortality among the unhoused.
Dr. Jonathan Jay wasn't surprised about the association but confessed, "The magnitude was staggering. Our estimates are 10 to 100 times greater than the known associations between daily heat and mortality for the general population in LA and Las Vegas, and this finding highlights the moral imperative for our systems to do more."
The study measured data from Los Angeles and Clark counties, where Las Vegas is situated, from January 2015 to late 2022.
The data showed "extremely hot days accounted for nearly 25 percent of all deaths in Clark County and 2.2 percent of all deaths in LA County."
A hot day was characterized by temperatures above the minimum mortality temperature — the average daily temperature at which the risk of death is lowest, relative to one's area: 52.8 degrees Fahrenheit in Clark County and 66.7 degrees in Los Angeles County.
"It was important to see that deaths increased as daily temperatures increased, from cool days to warmer days, and they spiked on hotter days, starting around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and higher," Dr. Jay said. "That's hot, but it's not even close to the hottest temperatures these cities experience."
Why is the rise in extreme heat important?
Just this year, Los Angeles had some of its hottest days on record, reaching 111 degrees in the downtown part of the city on Sept. 6, tying the record for that date and just two below the all-time record, as CBS News reported. Las Vegas experienced its hottest day on record in July when temperatures reached 120 degrees. The Sin City also boasts its hottest summer ever, with average temperatures reaching 96.2 degrees, smashing the previous record of 93.7 set in 2018, according to the National Weather Service via local station News 3.
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Another study of data from Japan concluded that mortality rates increased by 9% after "tropical nights," where the temperatures do not drop below a certain threshold overnight, meaning people can't cool down after the daytime heat, as reported by Environmental Health Perspectives.
Extreme heat makes the body work harder and longer to regulate its temperature, which tends to cause it to overwork and lead to death. Children, the elderly, and those with chronic diseases are more susceptible to the effects of heat, and while these populations are encouraged to seek air-conditioned areas, lower-income families and people who are experiencing homelessness may not have access, as the Drexel report indicated..
What's being done about the rise in extreme heat?
More groups are doing research and trying to collect as much data as possible so health experts, governments, and even tech companies can make better decisions for populations.
Recently, a team of engineers from China and Australia designed a fabric that can reduce temperatures, offering a sustainable alternative to air conditioning and one that may be more accessible to vulnerable populations.
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