Historically hot summer in the US leaves several dead and the trend is getting worse

A historically hot summer in the United States is leaving countless dead in July and the number of victims is only expected to increase with the hotter days to come.

It was the hottest summer on record for about 100 U.S. cities from Maine to California. The heat is suspected in the deaths of at least 37 people nationwide in July, a number that is likely an underestimate given the time it takes to attribute a death to high temperatures.

Many of the deaths occurred in the west of the country, where cities broke all-time temperature records during a long and unprecedented heat wave — exactly the kind of conditions scientists expect in a world that is warming due to fossil fuel pollution.

Heat is being investigated in the deaths of at least 19 people in Santa Clara County, California, alone, the county medical examiner’s office told CNN .

Everyone is vulnerable to heat, but some are more at risk than others. Children, the elderly, pregnant women, people with heart or blood pressure problems, outdoor workers, or anyone without access to reliable cooling are more likely to succumb to heat-related illnesses than others.

At least three of the people who may have succumbed to the heat in Santa Clara County were homeless, without adequate access to cooling. Nine were over 65, the county coroner told CNN .

At least one person has died from the heat in southeast Texas, where more than 1 million people are still without power for a fourth day after Hurricane Beryl. Others have died or become ill trying to stay cool using inadequate generators.

At least four children — a 2-year-old in Arizona, a 2-year-old in Georgia, a 4-year-old in Texas and a 5-year-old in Nebraska — died after being left inside cars in the heat this month.

Another child — a 10-year-old — died from a “heat-related medical event” while walking in a Phoenix park amid sweltering heat last week, according to the Phoenix Police Department.

Phoenix has broken or tied several daily heat records since early July.

Highs have climbed above 110 degrees Fahrenheit and lows have failed to dip below 90 degrees in the city every day since Tuesday. Dozens of other deaths are being investigated by Maricopa County in Phoenix for possible heat-related causes.

At least 10 suspected heat-related deaths are being reported in Oregon. At least six were in Multnomah County, Portland.

Portland broke daily record highs for at least five consecutive days last week, climbing into triple digits on three occasions.

The heat also took a toll on recreationists trying to enjoy the outdoors in a harsh climate.

A motorcyclist died from heat exposure in Death Valley on Saturday as temperatures reached 135 degrees Fahrenheit (53 degrees Celsius), setting a daily record.

A 50-year-old man also died while hiking Sunday amid extreme heat in Grand Canyon National Park, the National Park Service confirmed.

Some of those deaths are still under investigation, since confirming heat as a cause of death has always been “a complicated process,” David S. Jones, a physician and historian at Harvard University, told CNN previously.

A coroner must list a single cause of death, and in some places these officers are appointed politicians or elected officials who may not have any type of medical training.

“The assessment (of cause of death) itself is complicated,” Jones added. “If someone is found dead in an apartment, and you’re trying to figure out what the primary cause of death was to list, a lot of coroners will say, ‘Well, the person must have died of heart disease of some sort because their heart stopped.’”

Heat-related deaths are likely to rise in the coming weeks as more cases are confirmed and temperatures remain high.

The extreme heat in the West will begin to ease later this weekend, beginning a slow return to near- or slightly above-normal summer heat. The region is still typically quite warm in July, even without record-breaking daily heat.

Heat will be a constant companion across much of the U.S., with warmer-than-average temperatures likely through late July and at least early August, according to the Climate Prediction Center.