The Virginia Department of Health’s figures on this summer’s cases of heat-related health emergencies should alert us to the growing dangers of hot weather.
The health department recorded nearly 4,000 heat-related visits to the state’s emergency rooms and urgent-care centers over the summer. That number is nearly a 50% increase from the average, and an 18% increase from documented heat-related emergency visits in 2024.
That’s only people who sought emergency medical help. Who knows how many more suffered heat-related symptoms but dealt with it themselves — or not at all?
Consider this: The number of heat-related medical emergencies in Virginia increased significantly even though summer 2025 didn’t break records for extreme heat.
That’s not to say it wasn’t hot or unpleasant in Hampton Roads at times. June was hotter than usual, and a heat wave late that month prompted a three-day streak of extreme-heat warnings. July was also hotter than the average, and when a stagnant air mass settled in, with tropical moisture adding high humidity to the rising temperatures, the “feels like” numbers exceeded 100 degrees.
We got a welcome break, however: August, usually the worst part of summer, was one of the coolest here in recent years. Imagine how many emergency visits — and even deaths — there could be in a summer when the extreme heat and humidity are more relentless.
We are likely to find that out before long. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that this June was the third-hottest globally on record since NOAA started tracking surface temperatures around the world in 1850. The first and second hottest Junes were in 2024 and 2023.
Obviously, the trend is toward a warming climate. Change will likely come more quickly if the United States doesn’t work to move from fossil fuels to cleaner, renewable energy and promote more sustainable transportation, agriculture and forest management.
In the U.S., extreme heat already kills more people every year than any other type of weather — more than tornadoes, hurricanes or floods. The numbers have been rising steadily. In 2023, the most recent year on record, at least 2,325 people in the U.S. died because of heat — a 117% increase since 1999.
More than twice as many Americans die from heat-related causes as from cold. Part of the difference may be that we have long been aware of the dangers of extreme cold and do more to protect people from it.
On a personal level, it’s important to take the risks of overheating seriously. We should do what we can to protect ourselves, and know the signs of overheating, for ourselves and the people and pets we deal with. Drink plenty of water and take frequent breaks. Wear loose, light-colored clothing when outside.
Older adults, young children and people with medical problems are most at risk from heat. Overheating can turn a chronic condition into an emergency.
It’s not just the most vulnerable who are at risk. Healthy youths and adults whose work or pastimes have them active outdoors or in buildings without air conditioning account for more of the emergency medical visits.
Nor should we forget homeless people and those who can’t afford to cool their home. Communities should do more to provide shelter and respite from the heat for those in need.
In cities, endless pavement and lack of vegetation for shade create heat islands, where surfaces absorb and radiate heat, intensifying the problems. Urban planners should encourage preserving and planting trees and other vegetation, including more “green roofs” with plants growing on top of buildings.
One of the saddest things about heat-related deaths is that almost all could have been prevented. That should demand more work to slow climate change and adapt buildings and urban areas to minimize intense heat.
Hopefully the worst of the heat this year is past us, but we should keep the dangers firmly in mind. We should protect ourselves and our loved ones, people who work outside and all those who are most vulnerable to this very real danger.
