News Climate

Climate change could double U.S. temperature-linked deaths by mid-century

Roughly 8,000 deaths in the United States now are associated with extreme temperatures

A map of the United States is colored in different shades of red, denoting how hot the temperatures were on June 10, 2024.

Extreme heat over the summer hammered the United States, as seen in this heat snapshot from June 10 (the darkest red represents temperatures pushing past 40° Celsius [104° Fahrenheit]).  The numbers of deaths due to extreme temperatures, including extreme heat and cold, could double or even triple in the next few decades.

Wanmei Liang/GEOS-5/NASA GSFC

By Andrea Tamayo

Heat-related deaths in the United States are on the rise.