Last summer marked a record-breaking period of extreme heat in the United States, leading to a surge in heat-related health emergencies across the country. Data collected by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that the warm season from May to September, with peaks in July and August, saw a significant increase in emergency department visits for heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke, heat cramps, and sunburns.
Compared to the previous five seasons, the warm season in 2023 witnessed a 20% rise in heat-related emergency department visits. The data from hundreds of emergency departments nationwide indicated that 180 out of every 100,000 total visits were due to heat-related illnesses last year, up from 151 in the years 2018 to 2022.
