Published on April 11, 2023
Heat is a quiet killer. Unlike most natural disasters, which can leave visible damage across an entire region, a heat wave’s effects on human health can be difficult to track. So after record high temperatures struck the Pacific Northwest in the summer of 2021, official estimates included only people killed directly by heat exposure.
A new study led by Joan Casey, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), shows those estimates don’t capture the true toll. Published April 6 in the American Journal of Public Health, the study found that over the three weeks beginning June 25, 2021, dangerously high temperatures contributed to an additional 159 injury deaths across Washington state.
The result includes deaths that the heat wave contributed to indirectly, including drownings, transportation accidents, violence and self-harm. Prior studies have shown a strong correlation between temperature spikes and deaths from injury.
Continue reading at DEOHS.
Written by Aiden Scott for DEOHS.