For two years NPR tracked deaths from heat. A massive investigation by the news outlet found a chronic underreporting of this silent killer. One major player in this oversight is more obvious causes of death, like a heart attack, masking the heat’s role.
Since heat isn’t included on many death certificates, the data gets skewed, hiding the true danger of the high temperatures. This issue affects the whole U.S., including Oklahoma. In August alone, Oklahoma saw 22 days with highs of 100 degrees or warmer.
Over the past seven years, the CDC reported 23.1 heat deaths in the state. NPR’s scaled model indicates the true number of heat deaths in Oklahoma is over three times that amount at 89.4…