By Editor
A brutal heat wave over the United States (US) Midwest and Atlantic coast has been linked to at least 19 deaths in the state of New Jersey, officials said.
New Jersey officials said they began seeing what they believe are heat-related deaths as early as Thursday, with most occurring in the central and northern parts of the state.
New Jersey’s health commissioner Dr. Raynard Washington confirmed the incident.
“We started to see what we believe to be heat-related deaths as early as Thursday of this week,” Dr. Washington said.
“We are now up to 19 suspected heat-related deaths across the state, with most of those being in the central to northern part of the state.”
Washington and Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who also attended the press conference, did not give any further information on the ages of those who had died.
The health commissioner did stress the circumstances of those dead varied significantly.
“Unfortunately, many of these individuals were found in homes without air conditioning; few were outside of their residence, some on the street, and some even in parked cars,” according to Washington.
Over the past few days, New Jersey and states along the Eastern Seaboard have experienced extreme heat with temperatures in the high 90s to triple digits.
The National Weather Service said around 160 million Americans were under either major or extreme heat warnings as the country celebrated the July Fourth holiday this weekend.
Authorities urged people to stay indoors, check on their neighbours, drink more water than usual, and to find air conditioning if they don’t have access at home.
“This weather is extreme and dangerous…and this is the hottest stretch we’ve seen in over 14 years,” New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill warned residents.
More frequent, longer-lasting and more intense heat waves are one of the clearest signs of climate change, with Europe also recently hard hit.
Global average surface temperatures have risen roughly 2.5F above pre-industrial averages as a result of human-caused climate change, mainly driven by the burning of fossil fuels.
