Posted on 07/14/2026 3:16:53 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
[Heat kills more Americans than hurricanes. Federal disaster law has never once applied to it.]
With more than 200 million Americans currently under heat alerts as a potentially historic heat dome blankets the eastern two-thirds of the country heading into the July 4 weekend, a growing body of research makes one thing clear: extreme heat is the most lethal form of extreme weather in the United States — and the federal government has no disaster infrastructure built to fight it.
Heat-related fatalities in the U.S. have nearly doubled over the past 25 years, rising from approximately 1,069 in 1999 to 2,394 in 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, making 2024 the second-deadliest year for heat on record. The previous year was the worst on record: 2,325 deaths, a figure confirmed by a 2024 JAMA study that also found heat deaths were accelerating at 16.8 percent per year between 2016 and 2023. Despite that toll, extreme heat has never received a federal major disaster declaration under the Stafford Act, meaning FEMA cannot deploy its full toolkit — including individual assistance for cooling costs, medical expenses, or housing — even as heat kills more people annually than floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes combined.
"We have always had heat waves in the summer. That's a normal part of our weather," Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy, told NPR this week. "But as climate changes, as the planet warms decade by decade by decade, our heat waves are getting longer and stronger, more intense and more dangerous."
The National Weather Service described the current heat dome as carrying "dangerous to record-setting heat" expected to expand across the eastern two-thirds of the country. Heat index readings of 105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit are forecast for wide areas, and overnight lows are expected to remain above 75 to 80 degrees — high enough to prevent the body from recovering from daytime heat stress, a pattern that researchers identify as especially lethal during multi-day events.
Heat Season Has Grown by Six Weeks Since the 1960s
The numbers researchers cite are not fluctuations. In major U.S. cities, extreme heat events have surged from roughly two per year in the 1960s to six or more per year in recent years. The heat-wave season itself has stretched by approximately 46 days since the 1960s. Climate scientists are unambiguous about the cause.
"Make no mistake, the primary driver for the uptick in deadly heat waves across the world is the burning of fossil fuels, given that a modest baseline warming drives an exponential increase in extreme heat," Brown University climate scientist Kim Cobb said this week. The current event is being further amplified by an El Nino pattern that climate scientists say is unusually large for this early in the year.
Ashley Ward, director of the Heat Policy Innovation Hub at Duke University's Nicholas Institute, put the mechanism plainly: "The baseline is warmer. So, when a heat dome or a high-pressure system sets up, it's now starting from a hotter floor."
A heat dome forms when a mass of high-pressure air parks over a region and acts like a lid on a pot. Hot surface air is forced downward, compressing and heating further, while cloud formation and rainfall are suppressed. The longer the dome persists, the more the ground heats up and radiates additional warmth back into the air. Combined with high humidity — which slows the evaporation of sweat that the body depends on for cooling — the result is a physiological emergency at the population level.
And without AC back in 36 and maybe not in 66.
I’m betting the humidity in most if not all those US states is lower, AND air conditioners are much more common in those states than in France and the UK.
Cold kills a lot more than heat ever thought about...
I changed the transmission solenoid in my truck. Had to drop the pan. 2 1\2 hrs start to clean up. Got heat cramps in my fingers. Getting too old for this. Memphis and it was only about 90 in my garage.
Be careful shoveling that snow. My grandmother had a fatal heart attack doing that, about six weeks before her 100th birthday.
[[Heat-related fatalities in the U.S. have nearly doubled over the past 25 years]]
2 factors they ,eave out. 25 years ago population was 280,000,000 today it is nearly 350,000,000. And a LOT of people are older now with young people having less kids, so the older folks are dying off now in larger numbers. The article failed to give the young/old ratio compared to 25 years ago.
As well, they are likely counting g covid vaccine deaths as heat deaths now- they counted everything else as covid deaths before, even suicides so why not fudge the numbers on heat deaths to try to revive the climate hysteria?
“extreme heat is the most lethal form of extreme weather in the United States — and the federal government has no disaster infrastructure built to fight it.”
The same crowd who see ambiguity, relativity, and nuance in every root cause are stone-cold absolutists when offering solutions. It is always more government.
Pick the problem. Their solution is always the same.
It’s BRUTAL! LOL!
Exactly! I ain’t givin’ them one RED cent! :)
“...free air conditioners for all illegal aliens?”
And, why not? *SNORT* Socialist Democrats and RINOs can find a zillion ways to waste our illegally confiscated tax dollars!
Other than, you know, doing something USEFUL like...paying down our National DEBT! *SPIT*
I gots a BIG wood pile. ;)
Thank you! I thought as much. These LYING LIARS just make this stuff up as they go along! Grrrr!
“Wisconsin is a summer destination for many.”
If you like lakes and beaches and fishing and water parks the cool green of forests to hike through and than kind of stuff, for sure!
Thanks for your Tourist Dollars. ;)
116 in the greenhouse? I sat out there ALL DAY with my jug of Gatorade laced with Vodka. *SMIRK*
I HATE mosquitos and humidity. But, you’re right - just keeping the air MOVING makes onehellofa difference in comfort!
“New Hampshire has two seasons: winter and getting ready for winter.”
You know you are ALWAYS welcome in Wisconsin. :)
We have Four Seasons in Wisconsin:
Spring - Tornadoes & a lot of rain & hailstones
Summer - Mosquitoes, Heat and Humidity
Fall - Prep for Winter chopping wood while still swatting Mosquitoes
Winter - Shoveling, Snowshoeing, Ice Fishing, Snowmobiling, making Snow Angels and them more Shoveling...while still swatting mosquitoes!
I have had live mosquitoes in my house in MARCH. They were obviously getting the jump on things, LOL!
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