The US is forecasted to be hit with extreme heat this week. On Tuesday, temperatures were forecasted as reaching up to 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius) in Sacramento, California; 108 in Las Vegas; and 110 in Phoenix.
Finally, those high temperatures will plow through to the East Coast, where New York City is forecasted to reach 90F degrees and Washington, DC, could reach 93F degrees. Atlanta, Georgia will also be hit with temperatures of 96F degrees.
More than 11,000 Americans have died from heat-related causes since 1979, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said. And last year, extreme heat was the cause of about 120,000 emergency room visits, according to a report from The Guardian, citing the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The report emphasized that even indoor areas, including peoples’ homes, are no longer safe in a world which is getting increasingly hot.
“The home environment can actually be a substantial risk in and of itself,” said Jaime Madrigano, a public health researcher with Johns Hopkins University. “We find, during extreme heat events, that more people die in their homes than in other types of places. They’re not making it to the hospital.”
Homes that have suffered damage to their infrastructure no longer have proper insulation to keep cool. And failing power grids as well as weak cooling systems don't do enough to combat the growing heat.
A study published last year showed that a heatwave-related blackout in the city of Phoenix has the capacity to kill more than 12,000 people.