Hotter Summers Are Deadlier for Older Black People

By Willy Blackmore Originally appeared in Word in Black While it’s only May, the temperature at the southernmost point of the United States is already sailing past summer highs:& Key West marked a record-high heat index& of 115 this week, breaking the old record by& 17 degrees. It’s just the latest sign that the whole world is getting hot — last summer was the hottest in at least 2,000 years — and will continue to get hotter and hotter. In turn, that’s going to expose a lot more people to intense heat, which not only can cause a host of health problems but can also be deadly, too.  According to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications, 23% of older adults around the world will experience extreme heat by 2050, up from 14% today. And older age, when people are more likely to have compounding health factors, is when high temperatures can be the most deadly. While this is a global trend, the heat will be hotter for some compared to others — and in the United States, it’s likely older Black people who will be at the greatest risk. According to the study, most of the older...