Extreme Weather and Mortality of Vulnerable Urban Populations: An Examination of Temperature and Unclaimed Deaths in New York City

This is the first study to examine the link between extreme temperatures and unclaimed deaths in New York City. Daily air and wet-bulb temperatures were paired with public burial records. A 1°F hotter 7-day summer period predicts 1.2% more unclaimed deaths. Decedents on extreme heat days in NYC were up to three times as likely to go unclaimed.

Authors

Peter J. Marcotullio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8133-1204)
Deborah Balk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9028-7898)
Jennifer Brite (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5245-4352)
Frank Heiland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5938-3937)
Selen Ozdogan

Institutions

The Graduate Center, CUNY (US)
Baruch College (US)
Hunter College (US)

Publication Details

Journal: Demography
Published: 2026-06-17
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-12674285
Primary Topic: Climate Change and Health Impacts
Type: article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact: 0.00

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article

Extreme Weather and Mortality of Vulnerable Urban Populations: An Examination of Temperature and Unclaimed Deaths in New York City

Peter J. Marcotullio, Deborah Balk, Jennifer Brite, Frank Heiland et al.

Jun 17, 2026

Demography

Climate Change and Health Impacts

article

Extreme Weather and Mortality of Vulnerable Urban Populations: An Examination of Temperature and Unclaimed Deaths in New York City

Peter J. Marcotullio, Deborah Balk, Jennifer Brite, Frank Heiland, Selen Ozdogan

June 17, 2026article en

Abstract

This is the first study to examine the link between extreme temperatures and unclaimed deaths in New York City. Daily air and wet-bulb temperatures were paired with public burial records. A 1°F hotter 7-day summer period predicts 1.2% more unclaimed deaths. Decedents on extreme heat days in NYC were up to three times as likely to go unclaimed.

Demography

The Graduate Center, CUNY (US), Baruch College (US), Hunter College (US)

Openalex Percentile: Top 8%

Climate Change and Health Impacts

DOI Open Access PDF OpenAlex

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