For two years NPR tracked deaths from heat. A massive investigation by the news outlet found a chronic underreporting of this silent killer. One major player in this oversight is more obvious causes of death, like a heart attack, masking the heat’s role.
Since heat isn’t included on many death certificates, the data gets skewed, hiding the true danger of the high temperatures. This issue affects the whole U.S., including Oklahoma. In August alone, Oklahoma saw 22 days with highs of 100 degrees or warmer.
Over the past seven years, the CDC reported 23.1 heat deaths in the state. NPR’s scaled model indicates the true number of heat deaths in Oklahoma is over three times that amount at 89.4.
In Oklahoma County alone, the CDC averages about six deaths from heat per year, but NPR estimates the death toll is closer to 19.
Quinn Adams, a research scientist at Boston University’s Center for Climate and Health and the lead partner in the joint NPR-BU investigation, warns about the heat persisting.
“The frequency and the duration of these heat events has been expanding very rapidly,” says Adams. “That’s what we can expect moving forward into the next few decades: having more heat waves, and having them last longer, and having them be more intense such that people don’t get the escape from the heat that they need to physiologically reset.”
With the National Weather Service issuing a heat advisory in parts of northeast Oklahoma and triple-digit highs in the forecast across the state for weeks, it’s recommended to drink plenty of water and take breaks in the shade when spending time outdoors.
This article was originally published by KOSU. You can see the original story here.