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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Environment
Oliver Milman

‘Woefully unprepared’: extreme heat will double US hospitalizations by 2040, study finds

paramedics stand near a person on a stretcher outside of an ambulance
Paramedics from Phoenix fire station 18 transport a resident to the hospital during a heat wave in Phoenix, Arizona, on 20 July 2023. Photograph: Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg via Getty Images

People in the US are poised to endure another summer of unusually ferocious heat and there will be little respite in the years ahead, with a new study finding that the coming 15 years could see a doubling in hospitalizations due to heat-related illnesses.

The number of annual heat-related emergency department visits or hospitalizations across the US are set to rise from about 109,000 cases a year to as many as 237,000 cases by 2040, the new research has estimated.

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