Days and years of exposure to persistent heat can tax the heart and kidneys, disrupt sleep and challenge our mental health.

Kristie Ebi, professor of global health and of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW, is quoted.

As Earth’s climate continues to change from heat-trapping gases spewed into the air, ever fewer people are out of reach from the billowing and deadly fingers of wildfire smoke, scientists say. Already wildfires are consuming three times more of the U.S. and Canada each year than in the 1980s and studies predict fire and smoke to worsen.

Kristie Ebi, professor of global health and of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW, is quoted.

"Two years ago, an unprecedented heat event slammed the Pacific Northwest, setting 128 all-time high temperature records and killing 441 people between June 27 and July 3. It overwhelmed our medical systems and caused untold suffering, particularly for those who are elderly, pregnant, have chronic diseases, living with mental health and substance abuse issues, work outdoors and communities of color," write the UW’s Dr. Jeremy Hess, professor of global health, of emergency medicine and of environmental and occupational health sciences.

A brutal heat wave is expanding across Texas and the South this week, impacting millions of Americans with triple-digit temperatures and extreme humidity.

Kristie Ebi, professor of global health and of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW, is quoted.