579 Heat Deaths In 2023 In Phoenix, 45% Among Homeless; All-Time One-Year Record
Heat deaths surged by 50% in Phoenix in 2023 – the deadliest year on record after extreme temperatures pummeled America’s hottest city, official figures show. At least 579 people lost their lives to heat this year, with senior citizens accounting for one in three deaths, according to the year’s final heat surveillance report by the medical examiner’s office in Maricopa county, where Phoenix is located. Another 56 suspected heat deaths are still under investigation.
At least 45% of people who died were unsheltered and sleeping behind dumpsters, in car parks or on the burning hot sidewalk – even as daily temperatures hit 115F (46C) or higher on 22 different days. Heat deaths are always preventable given the right resources, according to public health experts.
The annual heat death toll has risen threefold since 2019, as the city’s affordable housing and addiction crises have converged with the climate emergency. Almost 1,900 people have died in the past five years, and thousands more have needed emergency medical help.
Phoenix, the capital of Arizona and America’s fifth-largest city with 1.6 million people, is accustomed to a hot desert climate, but temperatures are rising due to global heating – made worse by decades of unchecked urban development that created a sprawling heat island. In 2021, the city created a dedicated extreme heat office to tackle the rising death toll and make the stifling urban landscape more livable by increasing tree cover and built shade – especially in low-income neighborhoods which are often the least green and the hottest.
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