And the facts may surprise you. Far more people die from cold than heat.
Furthermore, cold waves sometimes kill young people, often on icy roads.
Consider the national statistics provided by the U.S. Environmental Prediction Agency. Based on hospital records, the death rate of coldwaves (top) is at least TWICE that of heatwaves (bottom)
Heatwaves
A 2014 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that from 2006–2010 about 2,000 U.S. residents died each year from weather-related causes About 31% of these deaths were attributed to exposure to excessive natural heat, heatstroke, sunstroke, or all; 63% were attributed to exposure to excessive natural cold, hypothermia, or both.
Cold was twice the threat of heat, consistent with the findings of the EPA.
Imagine courtesy of the Lance.
I could provide more publications, but the message is clear and consistent:
My comment:
Mike Maguire
September 27, 2021 11:48 am
Wonderful article using authentic data.
But that’s just for humans. If you took the rest of the creatures on the planet and calculated the deaths from heat, then compared that to the death caused by cold the disparity would be at least a couple of orders of magnitude.
Every Autumn in the mid/high latitudes life begins to prepare for the brutal cold. Plants go dormant or die. Creatures that can, escape with migration south to wonderful warmth. Creature that can’t, prepare for the long harsh Winter without food. Some hibernate.
Others tough it out…..with the death from cold adversity(that includes starvation because most plants are dormant or dead) elevated higher by several categories compared to death from heat……a totally different, much more harsh situation.
Finally, in early Spring, glorious life triggering warmth returns. Plants flourish again and food is plentiful for all creatures under typical conditions.
Then Summer heat waves hit in “some” places. Unlike Winter that always clobbers life across the entire planet at the mid/high latitudes because of the suns lower angle……………heat waves DON’T affect the entire planet, from west to east. Even when the sun hits it highest point on June 21st in the Northern Hemisphere, heat waves will be limited to just small regions and the death to most creatures from the heat will be limited…..but there are exceptions.
However on December 21st, 6 months later, the life killing cold will be well entrenched almost everywhere in the mid/high latitudes…….no matter the climate or the weather. Very few exceptions for most land masses.
Every single year, without exception life pays a price for that cold…….. but has still managed to adapt well.
As I've heard, want to see a real climate crisis. Have global temps drop a couple degrees. Mass starvation would be a reality.
Tim,
Excellent point!
If we could send the climate back into a time machine and cause it to be exactly like the one of 100 years ago...........1 deg. C colder and drop the CO2 from 416 parts per million back to around 300 ppm...........the loss in world food production that would, with absolute certainty occur would cause all the food supply in storage to quickly be drawn down to hand to mouth dynamics and almost no stocks or surplus.
Food prices would at least triple as we rationed the limited UNDER supplied market with a billion people likely starving within 3-5 years.
Just the extra 120 ppm of CO2 is increasing the food supply by around 24% thru atmospheric fertilization.
For each +5ppm in CO2, plant productively increases around 1%.
120 ppm/5ppm = 24%
The best crop growing weather in the last 1,000 years is probably adding at least another 6%.