‘Woefully unprepared’: extreme heat will double US hospitalizations by 2040, study finds

Sharp rise in hospital visits will in turn drive up annual healthcare costs for heat-related conditions to over $1bn

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.

Illnesses and deaths are most likely among poorer people who are unable to afford to run air conditioning, work outside for prolonged hours, live in houses badly designed for high temperatures or have exacerbating health conditions.

Already this year, the US has experienced its hottest ever March on record, with this summer expected to have above-average temperatures and potentially widespread wildfires , part of a longer-term trend of rising heat caused by the climate crisis.

A string of punishingly hot summers, particularly in places not used to such conditions, is likely to heap new challenges upon public health systems, the researchers warned.