The state has the most heat-related hospital visits in the nation, but efforts to create protections for outdoor workers and other vulnerable residents have been stymied by state legislators.
Florida is seeing the highest number of heat-related illnesses in the country, reveals a new report from the Florida Policy Institute.
As Ashley Miznazi explains in Governing, “The state saw more than 26,000 emergency room visits and 5,000 hospitalizations for heat-related illness between 2018 and 2022, according to the most recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control data compiled by the Orlando-based institute, a non-profit organization that researches health, education and other policy issues.” In a similar period (2017 to 2021), roughly 150 people died of heat-related causes in the state.
An accurate count of heat-related deaths is not always available, “with heat’s impact watered down in official statistics,” Mizrazi notes. “For example, when someone is hospitalized for a condition worsened by heat, their provider typically records only the chronic illness as a cause. The new report also highlights that some Floridians, such as outdoor workers who may fear retaliation from employers for reporting an incident, are also excluded from national statistics.”
With extreme heat expected to become a more widespread problem, understanding heat deaths and who is at risk is a crucial public health issue. Yet in Florida, state lawmakers recently passed a law blocking local governments from enforcing any heat-related protections for workers.
In addition to the half million outdoor workers in the state, the report notes that over 5.7 million Florida residents are “socially vulnerable” to heat due to disability, a lack of health insurance, and a lack of cooling in their homes.
Read the full story: Florida Has the Most Heat-Related Illnesses in the U.S.
Why It's So Difficult to Measure Heat Deaths
Without a standard for recording and classifying heat-related deaths, experts believe the scale of the problem is much bigger than numbers let on.
LA County Adopts First Heat Action Plan
LA County has adopted its first Heat Action Plan, a long-term, people-centered framework to reduce heat risks, protect public health, and adapt communities, homes, and public spaces to a hotter and more dangerous climate.
Temperatures in Subways Can Soar Well Above 100. What Some Cities are Doing About it.
Extreme heat can be even more dangerous in confined subway cars and stations.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Colorado’s Largest Data Center Could Rise Next to Homes — Without a Public Hearing
The proposed campus would consume 11 times the power of Denver International Airport; as it has across the country, opposition mounts.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
'This is going to be painful:’ Virginia stares down $1.7 billion funding gap for highway maintenance
The state may address the deficit by shifting $290 million from its construction budget to maintenance projects.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello