American scientists from the Boston University School of Public Health have found that the first victims of heat are homeless people. The study was published in the scientific publication American Journal of Epidemiology (AJE).
The team analyzed mortality rates among homeless people in dry areas of California and Nevada, including the Los Angeles and Las Vegas metropolitan areas. These cities were chosen for study due to their significant proportion of people living on the street and their hot climate.
According to experts, calculations showed a significant increase in deaths among homeless people due to hot weather.
“It's not surprising that we found a link between heat and mortality among people without shelter, but the magnitude is staggering. Our estimates are 10 to 100 times higher than the known associations between daily heat and mortality in the general population in Los Angeles and Las Vegas,” the authors of the scientific paper noted.
Heat death toll among all groups can be reduced through measures such as publicly accessible water stations, landscaping, reflective paint and cooling centres, the researchers say.
