Visiting the Grand Canyon will get more dangerous, study projects. Here's why.

Visiting one of America's iconic natural landmarks expects to get only more dangerous in years to come.

Extreme heat fueled by climate change will significantly increase the risk of heat-related illness for people who visit Grand Canyon National Park each year, according to a new National Park Service study.

The study used previously published data from a six-year period, 2004 to 2009, on heat-related illness among Grand Canyon visitors and records of daily visitation, temperatures, and maximum and minimum daily humidity to develop a model estimate for risk of heat-related illness.

Researchers then used climate projection models to predict heat-related-illness risk under different climate scenarios.

The study projects the rate of heat-related illness at the park will increase by up to 137%, resulting in up to 254 heat-related illnesses annually during peak visitation season.

“Even under the best-case scenarios there’s a lot of future risk coming,” Danielle Buttke, a National Park Service epidemiologist and one of the study’s authors, told CNN.

“This is truly a human health risk – every degree of warming matters, every amount of emitted carbon matters, and every action we can take to lessen our personal impact and advocate for climate action is going to save human lives,” she said.

Heat deaths at Grand Canyon National Park

Heat is suspected to have killed 16 people at Grand Canyon National Park since 2007, according to preliminary heat mortality data provided to CNN.

A 57-year old woman died at the park in July after trying to hike 8 miles, according to the National Park Service.

A park ranger found the woman at 1 a.m. on July 3 and pronounced her dead on the scene. The temperature in the region the day before reached over 100 degrees, and temperatures at Phantom Ranch, near the Colorado River, had topped out at 114 degrees.

HEAT-RELATED DEATH: Woman dies at Grand Canyon National Park in heat-related incident

What to know about heat-related illness

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, high temperatures kill hundreds of people every year. The CDC says the main factors affecting the body's ability to cool itself during extremely hot weather are high humidity and personal factors, such as age, obesity, dehydration and prescription drug and alcohol use. People can die of heat exhaustion, heatstroke and hyponatremia, a condition that occurs when sodium levels in the blood are too low.

Those who are highest at risk include people 65 and older, children younger than 2, and people with chronic diseases or mental illness.

The CDC recommends taking the following steps to prevent heat-related illnesses:

• Stay in an air-conditioned location as much as you can.

• Drink plenty of fluids even if you don't feel thirsty.

• Schedule outdoor activities carefully:

  • Wear lightweight, loose-fitting clothing and sunscreen.

  • Pace yourself.

• Take cool showers or baths to cool you down.

• Check on friends and neighbors and have someone check on you.

• Never leave children or pets in cars.

• Check the local news for health and safety updates.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Visiting Grand Canyon to get more dangerous due to heat illness: Study