The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😉
Main Topic: Hundreds of People May Have Died from Heat in Just One Arizona County During 2024
Dear Diary. Covering heatwaves on The Weather Channel and other media outlets is not sexy. Because heat is an invisible killer it does not glue eyeballs to the screen like a hurricane or even a landfalling tropical storm. Ratings are the lifeblood of any television station, and those produced by heatwaves just won’t cut the proverbial mustard for station managers.
Excuse my dark humor, but looking at TWC I had to chuckle today when I watched. They gave at least twenty minutes out of an hour’s worth of programming to cover a system that hasn’t even formed yet east of the Leeward Islands and may not even kill one person depending upon its track when it does. Another good slice of time was given to the Creek Fire and other fires in the West, which is understandable and also grabs eyeballs. People do get excited about fires, yet nobody was sent to the Mid-South to cover a strong heatwave in progress there. That system, which I’ve dubbed Hess, is much more likely to be a killer on the last day of July than any tropical system developing near the U.S. in about a week from now.
So, it comes as no surprise that heat deaths in Arizona did not get a mention at TWC during the hour I viewed the channel. Since heat is the number one weather killer and is getting worse because of climate change, TWC and other outlets must do better since they are a public service.
That stated, here are details about hundreds of heat deaths just recorded from just one county in Arizona during the torrid Summer of 2024 in the West:
Hundreds of people may have died from heat in one Arizona county in 2024 – Heat-related deaths are underestimated in 297 of the most populous U.S. counties
Screenshot of the Maricopa County Heat-Related Deaths Dashboard on 28 July 2024. Heat killed 27 people in the county, which is home to Phoenix, and is suspected as the cause of 396 other deaths in 2024. Graphic: Maricopa County
By Rachel Ramirez
24 July 2024
(CNN) – Hundreds of people may have died from heat in Arizona’s Maricopa County amid another record-breaking summer in the state.
Heat has killed 27 people in the county, which is home to Phoenix, and is suspected as the cause of 396 other deaths so far this year, according to figures released Tuesday.
A total of 645 people died last year during the deadliest year for heat in the county since it started tracking the deaths in 2006. Nearly half of last year’s deaths came during a stretch of the most intense heat from July 10 to July 25. Fewer deaths were under investigation during that time span than the 396 currently under investigation.
It typically takes two-to-three months to complete a heat death investigation and 75% of deaths under investigation last year were confirmed as heat related, Jeff Johnston, Maricopa County’s chief medical examiner, told CNN.
Screenshot of the Maricopa County Heat-Related Deaths Dashboard on 28 July 2024 showing a map of the locations of injury for heat-related deaths. More than 80 percent of deaths occurred outside. Graphic: Maricopa County
Suspected heat deaths have soared in recent weeks alongside temperatures. About 100 of the suspected heat deaths this year happened from July 7 to 13, when high temperatures in Phoenix hit 118 degrees – exactly the kind of dangerous conditions scientists expect in a world warming due to fossil fuel pollution with more frequent, intense and long-lasting heat waves.
“We certainly know that when we have higher temperatures that we see more heat-related illness, and in those who are at highest risk, there are more heat related deaths,” Nick Staab, Maricopa County public health’s assistant medical director, told CNN. “That correlation between the temperature and the number of deaths has been shown over time.”
Phoenix is currently experiencing its hottest start to summer on record. This June was hotter than last June, and this July has been nearly as warm as last July, which was the hottest month on record for any US city.
Maricopa County said it is working to mitigate heat deaths by increasing the amount of cooling centers across the county, and lengthening operating hours for unsheltered individuals, the county’s most vulnerable group to heat.
A billboard shows the temperature in Phoenix on 5 June 2024 as 106°F (41°C) at 7:28 pm. Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Heat is the deadliest form of weather in the US, killing more than twice as many people each year on average as hurricanes and tornadoes combined.
But heat deaths are still often undercounted, and there are many places that fail to report them accurately or regularly. A 2020 study found heat-related deaths were being underestimated in 297 of the country’s most populous counties. Researchers said mortality records tend to neglect other potentially heat-related causes of death, like heart attacks.
Maricopa County changed the way it investigates heat deaths last year by enabling investigators to select more than one potential contributing factor to a death, including heat-related factors.Prior to this change, the number of potential heat-related cases under investigation were being undercounted, according to Johnston.
Summer and heat in Arizona are far from over. Even though heat peaks in July in Phoenix, average high temperatures don’t drop below 100 degrees until mid-September.
So, with suspected heat-related deaths already so high, the coming months will prove even more deadly.
Hundreds of people may have died from heat in one Arizona county
Here are more “ETs” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
Here is new July 2024 climatology:
Here is More Climate News from Wednesday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)