start calling the elderly and frail, and turn city buildings into 24-hour cooling centers when temperatures become oppressive.
In Chicago, Hadden said the building's management company believed it was not allowed to turn off the heat and turn on the air conditioning until June 1, because of the city's heat ordinance. But while she said the ordinance has no such requirement, the explanation may at least be a signal that the ordinance should be amended to better protect vulnerable people from heat.
And in the Pacific Northwest, the percentage is even lower, something that came into stark relief in Oregon, Washington and western Canada last June, when temperatures climbed as high as 118 degrees Fahrenheit, killing 600 people or more."More people have air conditioning and we are more aware of the health risks of heat waves," Klinenberg said.
In a study published in 2020, Wellenius and other researchers estimated that nationwide about 5,600 deaths a year could be attributed to high heat — eight times more than the 700 heat-related deaths that are study found were officially reported each year.