Global Warming Could Double Heat Deaths in NYC

Because of global warming, the New York City area will experience an increase in heat-related summer deaths of 47% to 95% by the 2050s, according to a new study by the Columbia University''s Mailman School of Public Health.

The study will be published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Public Health. Those predictions are based on an annual average temperature increase 2.5 - 6.5 degrees, and an average summer temperature increase of 2.7 - 7.6 degrees.

“These new results indicate that climate change will put additional stress on the health of New York residents in the absence of concerted efforts to reduce vulnerability to heat waves,” says Patrick Kinney, associate professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, who designed and directed the study.

The deaths will be concentrated in the most urbanized areas around New York City, where the concrete jungle creates a "urban heat island effect," upping the temperature and extending the duration of heat each hot summer day and night. Further, impoverished neighborhoods where air conditioning is less common are more at risk. Risk factors for heat illness and death include old age, cardiovascular disease and respiratory illness.

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