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'Woefully unprepared': extreme heat will double US hospitalizations by 2040, study finds
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/09/extreme-heat-double-hospitalizations-2040-studySharp rise in hospital visits will in turn drive up annual healthcare costs for heat-related conditions to over $1bn
Oliver Milman
Tue 9 Jun 2026 09.00 EDT
People in the US are poised to endure another summer of unusually ferocious heat and there will be little respite in the years ahead, with a new study finding that the coming 15 years could see a doubling in hospitalizations due to heat-related illnesses.
The number of annual heat-related emergency department visits or hospitalizations across the US are set to rise from about 109,000 cases a year to as many as 237,000 cases by 2040, the new research has estimated.
This, in turn, will almost double annual healthcare costs for heat-related conditions to more than $1bn, the new paper, published in the American Geophysical Union journal GeoHealth, found.
Severe heat kills more people in the US each year than all other extreme weather events combined, with deaths surging by more than 50% over the past two decades.
…
Brown, S. E., & Shandas, V. (2026). Predicting urban heat-related illness across U.S. climate regions and demographics. GeoHealth, 10, e2025GH001655. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GH001655Oliver Milman
Tue 9 Jun 2026 09.00 EDT
People in the US are poised to endure another summer of unusually ferocious heat and there will be little respite in the years ahead, with a new study finding that the coming 15 years could see a doubling in hospitalizations due to heat-related illnesses.
The number of annual heat-related emergency department visits or hospitalizations across the US are set to rise from about 109,000 cases a year to as many as 237,000 cases by 2040, the new research has estimated.
This, in turn, will almost double annual healthcare costs for heat-related conditions to more than $1bn, the new paper, published in the American Geophysical Union journal GeoHealth, found.
Severe heat kills more people in the US each year than all other extreme weather events combined, with deaths surging by more than 50% over the past two decades.
…