SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Phoenix has hot summers, but the heat in the nation's fifth-largest city has shattered records this summer. Katherine Davis-Young at member station KJZZ joins us now. Katherine, thanks so much for being with us.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG, BYLINE: Good morning.
SIMON: What kind of records have been broken?
DAVIS-YOUNG: We've been in the triple digits now every single day since late May, and that streak doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon. And that blows past the previous record of 76 days, set all the way back in 1993. But that's just one of several climate records we've had here this summer. The average temperature for June, July and August was the hottest ever. And this week, we also broke the record for most days above 110 degrees in a year, and we had a record number of nights this summer where the temperature hasn't dropped out of the 90s.
SIMON: And many heat-related deaths?
DAVIS-YOUNG: Yeah, the heat can be really dangerous. Heat-related deaths in Phoenix have really skyrocketed. The annual death toll has actually broken a new record every year since 2016. This year, so far, 177 deaths are confirmed, and more than 400 others are under investigation. That means this year is likely to be one of the deadliest years ever, but maybe not as deadly as last year. The number of suspected heat-related deaths so far is actually down a little bit compared to last year.
SIMON: I feel the need to ask a question here. How do people die?
DAVIS-YOUNG: One of the biggest factors in our heat-related deaths in the last few years has been substance use, which can more quickly raise the body temperature or dehydrate the body. But then you also have about a quarter of cases where people die indoors in their homes if their air conditioner fails or they can't afford to keep it running. So there are a number of ways that can cause serious health risks.
SIMON: How does it happen that the number of deaths might be down compared to last year?
DAVIS-YOUNG: Right, the numbers are still preliminary, but they are about 12% lower at this point than they were at the same point last year. And officials I talked to say that that could be a sign some of the city and county's efforts to prevent these deaths are starting to move the needle in the right direction.
SIMON: What kind of efforts?
DAVIS-YOUNG: Well, there's been a bigger push this year to keep heat relief sites open into the evenings. For decades, there's been this network of libraries and churches and charitable organizations across the Phoenix area that open up as cooling centers in the summer. But about a third of heat-related 911 calls last year were happening during hours when most of those cooling centers were closed. And we have homeless shelters across our metro area at capacity, so we have a lot of unsheltered people needing somewhere to go at night when it is still so hot. So the city extended hours at three heat relief sites this year and has been keeping two public buildings open overnight for the first time. And since May, those sites have had more than 20,000 visits, and hundreds of visitors there have been connected with treatment or housing options. David Hondula directs the city's Office of Heat Response and Mitigation.
DAVID HONDULA: We're talking about lives that have been changed, and we're very confident that when we look at the data at the end of the season, we'll also be able to see that lives were saved from these locations.
DAVIS-YOUNG: So Hondula says it's definitely not time for a victory lap. There has still been a very tragic loss of life this summer, but things might be moving in the right direction.
SIMON: Any idea what the fall looks like?
DAVIS-YOUNG: Unfortunately, it looks like this is going to be a hot September after a very hot August, and the forecast for the coming weeks shows even more triple-digit days to add to our record along a streak.
SIMON: Katherine Davis-Young, of member station KGZZ, thanks so much for being with us.
DAVIS-YOUNG: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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