We're living shorter lives in Arkansas and everywhere

What happened: The decline can be mostly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and increases in drug overdose deaths.

• COVID-19 caused approximately 375,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2020, while over 91,700 people died of a drug overdose in the country that year.

Zoom in: Arkansas had 546 people die from drug overdoses in 2020, according to the CDC.

• The state has seen a total of 11,905 COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.

Yes, and: The CDC said that Southern states and D.C. were more likely to have lower life expectancies, as were Indiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio and Oklahoma, but didn't specify why.

State of play: A study released in April showed that U.S. life expectancy likely dropped again in 2021, Knutson writes. The researchers found that it fell by 0.4 of a year, leading to a net loss of 2.26 years over 2020 and 2021.