Prisoners in Texas and Florida face biggest risk of increasingly deadly heat

Almost 45% of detention facilities on US mainland suffered rise in hazardous heat days between 1982 and 2020, study says

Deadly heat is threatening the lives of America’s ageing incarcerated population, who are trapped in increasingly hot and humid conditions as the climate emergency escalates, new research has found.

Almost 45% of detention facilities on the US mainland suffered a rise in hazardous heat days between 1982 and 2020, with the south most severely affected. People incarcerated in state-run facilities in Texas and Florida are the most exposed to dangerous conditions.