Death Toll From Oppressive Heat in New Jersey May Be as High as 29 | In New York City, emergency rooms last week logged the highest number of patients treated for heat-related illnesses in years.

Dr. Krasting, a former researcher for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said that climate change and a two-year drought in New Jersey, which had left the soil unprepared to rapidly absorb rain, contributed to the intensity of the week’s weather.

“Our changing climate,” he said, “is changing the likelihood of extreme events like this.”