NPR spent 2 years tracking deaths from heat. We found a staggering hidden toll
NPR and Boston University conducted a two-year investigation revealing that official U.S. heat-related death counts are significantly underreported. The study highlights the need for better data collection to address the growing human toll of climate change.
Why it matters
Accurate mortality data is essential for public health officials to develop effective heat-mitigation strategies as global temperatures rise.
Getty Images/Collage by Emily Bogle/NPR Thousands of Americans die every year from a chronically underreported cause: heat.
As summer heat intensifies because of human-driven climate change, the United States' official tally of heat-related deaths does not come close to capturing the full human toll. The data feeding into nationwide death counts is collected inconsistently and rarely thoroughly.
The result is a vast undercount of the number of people who die because of heat. And experts say failing to recognize and address this may cost more people their lives.
So NPR set out to create a more comprehensive national count.
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