NYT: Northeast Heat Wave Was a Factor in 100 Deaths in NYC

[DeepModem Mom]

Heat Wave Was a Factor in 100 Deaths, New York Says
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
Published: November 16, 2006

Last summer’s brutal heat wave killed or contributed to the death of about 100 people in New York City, far more than previously reported, and it may have been the deadliest in decades, according to a new analysis by the city health department.

The city has long counted the number of deaths caused directly by heat stroke, and city officials say that heat stroke claimed 40 lives in early August, the most in any heat wave since 1952.

In addition to tallying those deaths, officials at the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said that for the first time they also calculated the number of “excess deaths” — that is, how many more deaths occurred during the heat wave than would be expected during ordinary summer weather. Since the 1990’s, other cities like Chicago have made that calculation, because it can provide a more complete picture of heat-related deaths....

***

Officials did not release the number of excess deaths by day. But they said it was clear that most of the victims succumbed in the last days of the heat wave, which got hotter as it wore on, or in the days just after. Similar patterns have been documented many times in other places, because the heat’s toll on vulnerable bodies — the elderly and people with underlying, chronic conditions — builds each day without a break....

Across the Northeast, people suffered through one of the worst hot spells on record last summer. In some parts of the city and its suburbs, temperatures hit 100 degrees or more each of the first three days of August, following five straight days in the 90’s. Even after the worst had passed, there were several days in a row in the high 80’s and low 90’s....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/nyregion/16heat.html

[smirkymonkey]

1. The rest of us just wished we were dead.

It was so awful - I really don't know if I can take another NYC Summer. It's not just the heat, it's the heat combined with concrete, skyscrapers, traffic congestion, bus exhuast, subway platforms etc. It's unbearable.

[Drum]

4. For real...it gets brutal.

I always worry during the extremely hot or extremely frigid times here: I can escape the elements but I just know that some, somewhere, are perishing from those times.
:(

[shanti]

2. here in cali

we had a bad heat wave that killed people too. it was in late july, and was AWFUL.

[Zensea]

3. Oh it wasn't so bad

:evilgrin:
Don't get me wrong, I do think it was bad for the elderly.
I've been through worse when I lived in Kansas.
I do live in New York City now and have for quite some time.
At least in the city you can go into places that are air conditioned without too much trouble.
I haven't had an air conditioner for as long as I can remember, so I put my money where my mouth is on this one.
We all better get used to it considering global warming --- and speaking, of which air conditioning is a contributing factor to global warming, so we all better damn well get used to it and to finding ways.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/2006-08-06-air-conditioning-warming_x.htm
"Overall, the study found carbon dioxide emissions increasing more over time as coal is burned in Southern and Western states to power air conditioners during warmer and warmer summers."