According to local and federal health data, a deadly heat wave that engulfed Texas this month has sparked a public health crisis that is disproportionately harming older people and outdoor workers in the state.
According to the local medical examiner, at least nine people ,eight of them over 60, have passed away from heat-related causes in one South Texas county.
Heat Claims Lives of Texas Prisoners and Hikers
At least nine prisoners, including two men in their 30s, have passed away in hot Texas prisons from heart attacks or unidentified causes in uncooled institutions.
A 14-year-old child and his stepfather, a 31-year-old man, perished last Friday after hiking in Big Bend National Park in a particularly terrible episode.
The boy’s 21-year-old brother tried to carry him back to the trailhead on a day when temperatures in the area reached as high as 119 degrees, according to the National Park Service.
The boy’s stepfather died after crashing his car as he sped to get help after the boy lost consciousness on the trail.
A heat wave that is now into its fourth week in some parts of Texas this month broke meteorological records with its relentless 100-degree temperatures across the state.
After weeks of terrible heat, Texans may finally experience some reprieve when the heat dome moves east.
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Scientists Warn of Increasing Severity
According to scientists interviewed by The Texas Tribune, such heat waves and the record-breaking temperatures they bring are growing more often and severe.
This month, emergency room visits in Texas increased as a result of the extreme heat, as local public health officials and frightened medical examiners alike warned about the dangers the weather poses to residents’ health.
According to Jesse Berman, an environmental epidemiologist and assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Minnesota, heat waves can have a major effect on people’s health.
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