Despite more extreme heat, Phoenix reduced heat-related deaths

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The biggest change in heat relief, he says, was the opening of the city's first 24/7 heat respite and navigation center. The city also operates an overnight center and three cooling centers in public libraries.

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Maricopa County - which includes Phoenix - has been monitoring heat-related deaths since 2006, according to Nick Staab, the county's chief medical officer. Drawing on data from sources including the county medical examiner, local hospitals and the National Weather Service, the county Public Health Department publishes an annual mortality report. It also updates a heat-related illness and death dashboard weekly, to give community members a real-time view of the interplay between heat and illness.

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The bottom line is that every heat death is preventable, Keith says. "I think a lot of folks that work on heat in Arizona were feeling dismayed that the numbers just kept rising. At the very least, 2024 shows that with coordinated response, we can curb the tide of heat deaths." Although it was encouraging to see the numbers go down for the first time in a decade, Hondula notes, there's still more work to do. "When I came to Arizona 10 years ago, in a really bad year we might have upwards of 100 [deaths]. We're well above that number today."

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