AP analysis finds 2023 set record for US heat deaths, killing in areas that used to handle the heat

An Associated Press analysis of federal data shows that about 2,300 people in the United States died in the summer of 2023 with their death certificates mentioning the effects of excessive heat. That’s the highest in 45 years of records. More than two dozen doctors, public health experts, meteorologists and other experts tell The AP the real death toll was higher. Coroner, hospital, ambulance and weather records show that last summer amped up America’s heat and health problem to a new level. The relentless warmth unusually killed more people in the South, which had been less prone to mass deaths. An Associated Press analysis of federal data shows that about 2,300 people in the United States died in the summer of 2023 with their death certificates mentioning the effects of excessive heat. That’s the highest in 45 years of records. More than two dozen doctors, public health experts, meteorologists and other experts tell The AP the real death toll was higher. Coroner, hospital, ambulance and weather records show that last summer amped up America’s heat and health problem to a new level. The relentless warmth unusually killed more people in the South, which had been less prone to mass deaths.  AP Technology and Science