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REPORTING
Thousands of Heat-Related Deaths Go Uncounted in Texas Each Year, New Research Finds
Existing systems record only ‘one-sixth of the statistically estimated heat deaths’ in Texas, a new paper by a Texas A&M researcher finds.
Greg Harman | Deceleration
Texas officials are undercounting heat-related deaths every year, missing thousands of deaths, according to a trio of models run by a Texas A&M-based climate scientist—deaths that may otherwise motivate policymakers to respond to a long neglected (and accelerating) public health crisis.
“Official Texas records captured only about one-sixth of the statistically estimated heat deaths, though this undercounting has improved over time,” concludes a new paper by Andrew Dessler published earlier this month in the journal GeoHealth.
“These findings highlight the need for better heat death tracking systems and expanded protection programs for both extreme heat waves and routine hot weather as climate change brings more frequent and intense heat to Texas,” writes Dessler.
Researchers have struggled in the face of poor record-keeping to accurately track heat deaths even as temps have been rising for decades.