Las Vegas continues to get hotter and deadlier

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Heat waves in Las Vegas are nothing new, but they are getting worse.

New numbers from the Desert Research Institute find rising temperatures are leading to more heat-related deaths, and it’s only getting hotter.

Las Vegas is considered a heat island.

It’s hotter in the city than in surrounding rural areas, and it’s human-caused.

“What we have is all of these paved surfaces or concrete surface concentrates the heat during the daytime than in the nighttime when it’s supposed to be fresher. All this heat that was collected by the surface is released back, said Erick Bandala, an Assistant Research Professor at DRI.

Bandala has been tracking temperatures in the southwest and looking at data over a ten year period.

“The general trend is that it’s just going up,” he said.

Heat waves are also increasing. Bandala said, “We have found that there are more frequent and more intensive heat waves that are occurring as the time goes by.”

Temperatures are increasing as the population continues to grow.

There is more asphalt, and more concrete. With retirees coming to the valley, that concerns Dr. Upinder Singh with Southern Hills Hospital.

“Heat is a problem anywhere for anyone but it becomes much more important for our older adults," said Dr. Singh. "Adults with heart disease are even more susceptible to the effects of triple-digit temperatures."

Within 15 minutes, heat exhaustion which can include increased sweating, rapid pulse, and lethargy, can quickly turn deadly.

“At this point, it gets very critical that you get medical attention right away,” said Dr. Singh.

Dr. Singh says while we may be more acclimated to these high temperatures, it doesn’t negate the danger. “It should not be ignored.”

Bandala agreed. The heat is deadly.

“What we found was that in 2007 when we started doing this analysis, there were less than 10. By 2016, we found nearly 50 people died because of that," he said.

Dr. Singh said prevention is always better than a cure, so remember sipping water throughout the day is crucial and wearing loose and light-colored clothing can help.