A considerable amount of deaths is attributed to extreme weather in the US, especially during summers. Researchers predict that this year there might be even more deaths owing to rising temperatures.

Previously every research that was conducted, took into account the deaths that were caused by heat. For this research, researchers gathered data on all the deaths across the populous countries of the world, whether they were caused by heat or not. They even considered deaths that were caused by moderately warm temperatures. Data was provided to them by the National Center for Health Statistics.

For the countries included in the research, it was known that 3,309 people died of moderate heat annually, and 2,299 people died of extreme heat annually. However, it could not be said that the only cause of these deaths was the hot climate. Hence, the actual number of deaths owing to harsh climatic conditions comes down to the previously estimated deaths.

This study is published in the journal Environmental Epidemiology.

The lead author of the study, Dr. Kate R. Weinberger, believes that the fatality rate based on climatic conditions also depends on the demographics of the area that is being studied. People living in areas that receive longer cold spells of weather, such as Seattle, are more prone to death than those living in areas that already have a hot climate, such as Phoenix.

This year, researchers are fearing more deaths when the heatwave strikes the country. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have already estimated more than 600 annual death owing to hot weather spells in the preceding years.

This year, the country is also facing a pandemic. All the public centrally air-conditioned areas would be shut down, and if they do open, they could only host a limited amount of people. Businesses have been shut down across the country and people will be having a hard time paying for their personal air-conditioning units. Even the malls have been closed and could not be expected to open up any time soon.

The study, “Estimating the number of excess deaths attributable to heat in 297 United States counties”, was authored by Weinberger, Kate R, Harris, Daniel, Spangler, Keith R, Zanobetti, Antonellae, Wellenius, and Gregory A.