Becerra says extreme heat emerging as a ‘public health crisis’

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra gave remarks in Phoenix on Wednesday, acknowledging a rise in temperatures has led to a “public health crisis.”

“The climate change that we are experiencing cannot be denied. It has created, has led to a public health crisis,” he said during a press conference, The Associated Press reported.

His visit came as Arizona continues to see triple-digit temperatures this week, according to the National Weather Service. Becerra noted that “people are dying on our streets because of extreme heat.”

“What we’re beginning to see is the prominence of extreme heat and no longer just the issue of extreme cold and the weather effects that come from snowstorms and heavy rains, flooding, hurricanes,” Becerra said, according to the news service. “Today, it is things that happen as a result of the heat — heat exposure, the need to deal with growing numbers of wildfires.”

He was also asked whether heat should be recognized as a weather-related disaster under the Stafford Act, which helps states get federal assistance for weather emergencies, ABC 15 reported.

“We’re going to go through all of those really critical issues that have to be explored about when we have an emergency, and under what circumstances the federal government comes in and says, ‘We’re going to now assist the state,’” he said, according to the local outlet.

“And I think most people recognize that what we’re facing with extreme heat today wasn’t what we were experiencing 30 years ago, 40 years ago,” Becerra added.

Roughly 1,220 people are killed by extreme heat in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Arizona’s Maricopa County, there have been 66 heat-related deaths this year with another 447 deaths under investigation for heat-related causes.

Becerra’s warning comes after the Biden administration proposed the nation’s first standards aimed at protecting workers from extreme heat last month, which would mandate that employers provide rest breaks and access to shade and water for workers who experience risks from the heat.

The Associated Press contributed.