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He died in a sweltering house. Why doesn't his death record show it?

Debbie Willson holds a photo of her son, Adam Willson, who died in June 2024. Debbie is sure his death was influenced by heat, but his death certificate doesn't mention it. Such omissions are common nationwide and result in an undercount of the impact of heat, an investigation from NPR and Boston University finds. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption An NPR investigation finds that heat kills thousands of Americans every year. But official records radically undercount the toll.

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Scoop News DeskBoston, Massachusetts · Published Wednesday, September 2, 2026 at 9:00 AM UTCUpdated Thursday, September 3, 2026 at 12:51 AM UTC

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But a new investigation from NPR and Boston University finds that the number is likely about 9,000, or five times higher — and even that number may underestimate heat's deadly impact. There are a number of reasons those deaths don't show up in state or national death counts, says Quinn Adams, an epidemiologist at Boston University and the lead researcher on the NPR-BU investigation.

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