There’s never been a summer in Arizona like the one that just passed as the state hit a grim milestone.
The southwestern state that boasts the Grand Canyon confirmed that 2022 was the deadliest summer ever recorded, with 359 heat-related deaths logged – an increase over 2021’s tally of 339.
Temperatures have soared into the triple-digits due to climate change, and heat waves in the desert region are both more intense and more common than in years past.
And with 91 other deaths still being investigated, the final number for the year’s most sweltering season could still climb further.
The year’s hottest temperature recorded by the National Weather Service at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was 115F on July 11, with three other days reaching 114F.
Part of the suspected reason for the increase in heat deaths is a rising crisis of homelessness in the area. Almost 80% of 2022’s heat deaths in Maricopa County happened outdoors, but a breakdown of those simply working outside versus those living outside is not currently available.
But certainly some make the connection between the homeless population that lacks shelter from the harmful heat and the spike in deaths.
“With so many more homeless people, it makes sense that more would die in the heat,” Amy Schwabenlender, executive director of the Human Services Campus in downtown Phoenix, told The Guardian.
Schwabenlender said her facility is currently hosting about 900 homeless people and that about 1,000 take shelter in tents outside the fenced-in campus, a number that has more than tripled in the past year.
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