A new investigation shows heat is even deadlier than we thought
This article was originally published in NPR with support from our 2026 National Fellowship.
Hot weather isn't just an inconvenience. It's killing thousands more Americans than show up in official records. That's the finding from a new NPR investigation, in partnership with Boston University. And the way they came up with that new, better estimate of the true toll of heat is, of course, with science. This episode, we'll bring you all the details – and chat about why getting good estimates could save lives.
Interested in more science-based investigations? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
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This episode was produced by Berly McCoy. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Jimmy Keeley.