Heat Waves Are Among the Deadliest Weather Disasters in the U.S., Pushing the Human Body to Its Breaking Point
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Learn what happens to our bodies during extreme heat and why heatwaves in the U.S.
have a higher mortality rate than hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods combined. Stephanie Edwards is the Engagement Specialist at Discover Magazine, who manages all social media platforms and writes digital articles that focus on archaeology, the environment, and public health.View Full Profile. If you’re anything like me, you spend more than half of the year waiting for warm weather to return.
And once the heat finally arrives, it signals barbecues, beach days, and all the great outdoor activities of summer. However, the increase in heatwaves over the past decade is sending people back indoors. Unlike other deadly weather events, heat rarely leaves behind dramatic images of destruction.
Instead, it places the body under mounting physiological stress until our organs begin to fail. That’s why, according to NPR, heat is responsible for more weather-related deaths in the U.S. during an average year than hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods combined.
As climate change increases both the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events, understanding why heatwaves become so dangerous has never been more important. A heatwave isn’t simply a stretch of hot weather. What makes it uniquely dangerous is the accumulation of heat over multiple unusually hot days and nights, as explained by the World Meteorological Organization.
Normally, nighttime provides an opportunity for both people and buildings to cool off. Walls release the heat they’ve absorbed; the air becomes more comfortable, and the human body finally gets a chance to recover from the day’s thermal stress. During a heatwave, that reset never happens, with warm nights preventing excess heat from escaping.
Each day begins with the body already carrying the strain from the day before, creating a cumulative effect that steadily raises the risk of heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and other life-threatening complications. The human body has an impressive built-in cooling system: sweat. But that system depends on evaporation.
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