据官员称，医学检查人员正在调查上周在太平洋西北部的一场残酷热浪中死亡的10人是否与高温有关。

太平洋西北部大部分地区的气温都达到了三位数，从周二开始一直持续到周末，这是一个很少看到气温超过90度的地区。

根据俄勒冈州法医办公室的一份声明，截至周日，包括波特兰在内的摩特诺玛县，以及乌马蒂拉县、马里恩县和克拉克马斯县都报告了潜在的高温相关死亡。官员称，死亡发生在周四至周六。

Jalen Askari, 7, right, plugs his nose as he falls into the pool he is playing in with his siblings, from left, Amari, 5, Bella, 2, and DJ, 10, in Portland, Ore., July 26, 2022. Wide swaths of western Oregon and Washington are well above historic average temperatures.

克雷格·米切尔代尔/美联社

上周该地区大部分地区都发出了高温警告。周二，波特兰达到102度，而加州雷丁的温度达到102度，华盛顿亚基马的温度达到107度。

高温是与天气相关的头号杀手。根据国家气象局的数据，平均而言，美国死于极端高温的人数超过任何其他恶劣天气事件，包括龙卷风、飓风和洪水的总和。

波特兰连续七天气温超过95度，打破了之前六天的纪录。

亚利桑那大学景观建筑与规划学院助理教授拉德·基思(Ladd Keith)在6月份接受美国广播公司新闻采访时表示，当气温开始飙升时，弱势群体，包括贫困和边缘化社区以及那些预先存在哮喘和心脏病等健康问题的人，面临的风险最大。

极端高温促使俄勒冈州州长凯特·布朗宣布进入紧急状态，持续到周日。太平洋西北部的大多数家庭没有安装中央空调。

上周的热浪与2021年夏天袭击该地区的两次历史性热浪相似。科学家们后来发现，如果不是这样，这些热浪“实际上是不可能的”气候变化和全球气温上升。

预计周一热量将从太平洋西北部转移到华盛顿东部、俄勒冈州、爱达荷州和蒙大拿州，那里可能出现三位数的高温。

Heat suspected as cause of 10 fatalities following Pacific Northwest heat wave

Medical examiners are investigating whether the deaths of 10 people who died during a brutal heat wave in the Pacific Northwest last week were heat related, according to officials.

Temperatures in the triple digits were recorded across much of the Pacific Northwest that started Tuesday and lasted through the weekend -- a region that is rarely used to seeing temperatures exceed the 90-degree mark.

As of Sunday, potential heat-related deaths were reported in Multnomah County, which includes Portland, as well as Umatilla County, Marion County and Clackamas County, according to a statement from the Oregon state medical examiner's office. The deaths occurred from Thursday through Saturday, officials said.

Excessive heat warnings were in effect for much of the region last week. On Tuesday, Portland hit 102 degrees, while temperatures reached 102 degrees in Redding, California, and 107 degrees in Yakima, Washington.

Heat is the No. 1 weather-related killer. On average, more people in the U.S. die from extreme heat than any other severe weather event, including tornadoes, hurricanes and flooding combined, according to the National Weather Service.

Portland saw temperatures exceeding 95 degrees for seven days straight, beating a previous record of six days.

Vulnerable populations, including impoverished and marginalized communities and those with pre-existing health conditions such as asthma and heart disease, are most at risk when temperatures begin to skyrocket, Ladd Keith, an assistant professor in the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning at the University of Arizona, told ABC News in June.

The extreme heat prompted Oregon Gov. Kate Brown to declare a state of emergency that lasted through Sunday. The majority of households in the Pacific Northwest are not equipped with central air conditioning.

Last week's heat wave drew parallels to the two historic heat waves that hit the region in the summer of 2021. Scientists later found that these heat waves would have been "virtually impossible" had it not been forclimate changeand rising global temperatures.

The heat is expected to move out of the Pacific Northwest on Monday and toward eastern Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, where triple-digit high temperatures are possible.