Deaths From Heat and Cold

Far more people die in winter than at any other time of year, and not necessarily with snow shovels in their hands.

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Study after study has shown that more deaths occur because of cold than heat. The most recent effort, reported in Lancet, examined 74 million deaths in 13 countries. The result: 7.71 percent of the deaths were caused by non-optimal temperatures. Cold was responsible for 7.29 percent of deaths, while 0.42% were attributable to heat. In other words, deaths from cold were some 20 times higher than those from heat. (1) Another study that included 259,891 cases of sudden heart attacks revealed that there were 53 percent more heart attacks in the winter months than in summer months. (2) Indur Goklany reports that, from 1979 to 2002, 8,589 people died as a result of extreme heat, whereas 16,313 died as a result of extreme cold. (3) In the United Kingdom, between forty and fifty thousand more deaths occur during the winter months than in summer months. (4) One could go on and on with these type of data. The clear conclusion is that cold is the last thing we want to see, and any warming needs to be welcome. Jack Dini Livermore, CA References

1. Antonio Gasparrini et al., “Mortality risk attributable to high and low ambient temperature: a multicountry observational study,” thelancet.com, May 21, 2015
2. Karl Kruszelnicki, Munching Maggots, Noah's Flood, and TV Heart Attacks, (New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1998), 182
3. Indur M. Goklany, The Improving State of the World: Why We're Living Longer, Healthier, More Comfortable Lives on a Clean Planet, (Washington, DC. Cato Institute, 2007), 167
4. Laura Lee, 100 Most Dangerous Things in Everyday Life, (New York, Broadway Books, 2000), 72