Unsheltered homelessness is a public health catastrophe. Homeless people are dying daily in King County and Seattle, it’s getting worse, and it’s preventable. Providing shelter or housing sufficient for all unsheltered people is an essential step to turn things around. 

Amy Hagopian, professor of global health and of health systems and population health, is featured.

Residents of Camp Hope in Las Cruces are more equipped to deal with the staggering heat than people living on streets, but residents and staff stress that it’s no substitute for housing.

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.