Washington PostWaPo climate columnist (twice a week) Michael J. Corinne, the so-called climate coach, published an article stating that hot temperatures kill more people in the United States each year than cold temperatures. this is not true.
Peer-reviewed data and research consistently show that more people die in the United States each year from cold temperatures and cold-related health complications than from high temperatures and heat-related health complications. (emphasis, links added)
This week, Corinne’s Climate Coach column discussed the sweltering mid-July temperatures around the world, suggesting that climate change has become so severe that The world needs a new thermometer.
Fahrenheit, the actual temperature, is insufficient. Of course, the heat index has been around for years and is reported daily, until now Cohen treats it like it’s something new It should be reported instead of the daily high and low temperatures.
One could debate this point, but there it is Not a single claim Cohen makes argues – it is simply and objectively false.
Cohen claimed, “(1) n the United States, Where heat is really the main weather-related killerHundreds of people die every year, especially the elderly. EPA reports.“
In fact, In some years hurricanes kill more people than heatIt’s rare, but it does happen.
However, the The evidence strongly suggests that this is rarely the casewhich Excess heat takes more lives than excessive cold temperatures in the United States or elsewhere.
Cohen may be confused because the EPA data cited by death counts only In reality Coded as hypothermia due to cold.
but Thousands of people die each year in the United States from cold-related health complications.
An article in the Public Health Post points to this Even the number of deaths directly attributed to the cold – Hypothermia and tissue damage from cold – The number is more than 1,300 each yearmore than a few hundred directly attributable to heat or heatstroke, For example.
Thousands more die from health complications happened because cold temperatures.
According to the Public Health Post:
Each year in the United States, about 1,330 people die from exposure to the cold, essentially freezing to death.
…
Cold-related illnesses and deaths are not reported because only a small number are recognized and appropriately coded as hypothermia and tissue damage. However, cold temperatures can exacerbate conditions such as heart disease and respiratory disease, causing hospitalizations and deaths that may not be recognized as cold-related on death certificates or hospital records.
Nor is she Outliers for Public Health Post claims In the medical, public health, and climate literature, instead Represent EPA claims the minority opinion.
For example, a study from researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) published in the peer-reviewed journal environmental research Specific, in the words of the ICU press release (added in bold):
…Cold temperatures are responsible for almost all temperature-related deathsAccording to a new study published in the journal Environmental Research.
According to the new study conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Patients who died from cold temperatures were responsible for 94% of deaths are heat relateddespite of Hypothermia was responsible for only 27% of temperature-related hospital visits.
With the number of cold-weather days declining over the past several decades, We continue to see more deaths due to cold weather “Unlike hot weather,” said Lee Friedman, associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences in the UIC School of Public Health and corresponding author on the paper.
Extensive repeat studies Covers dozens of countries and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people published over the past decade in one of the most important medical journals, scalpelAnd Constantly confirmed This is everywhere Heat related deaths been studied, Cold kills more peopleAnd 10 to 17 times more people than average heat.
found a Lancet study that examined heat-related deaths in China 46 times the number of people who died from such conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases Affected by non-optimal cold temperatures from from deaths attributable to suboptimal temperaturesin 2019.
Another Lancet study examined heat-related deaths from 384 locations In Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, USA, and found In each country, the number of cold-related deaths outnumbered heat-related deaths by a large margin. (see figure below)
This study found that in the United States, Mortality related to suboptimal cold temperatures were about 16 times greater deaths attributable to suboptimal high temperatures.
Interestingly, Neither extreme cold nor extreme heat It seems The biggest killers – People taking preventive measures or modifying activities during such events – moderately cold It was quite By far the biggest cause of suboptimal temperature-related deaths. (see chart below)
Long term data presented recently climate realism Written by meteorologist Anthony Watts explains it Heat waves are not increasingunlike What is claimed or implied by hundreds of headlines and stories in recent weeks.
Also, as revealed and discussed in several climactic realism articles here, here, and here, for example.
When it comes to heat-related deaths, Cold kills more people than heatAnd the good news is that The Earth’s temperature has increased modestlydeaths from suboptimal temperatures decreased significantly, Primarily from lower cold-related deaths.
One can only wonder Why the Environmental Protection Agency ignored this prolific research claim that Hot temperatures kill more people than cold temperatures in the United States every year.
It may have prompted him and reporters like Cohen to promote the climate crisis narrative, Data picking to fit An alarming story they want the public to believe.
If that’s the case, WaPo and the EPA are both serving the public they’re supposed to be serving, that’s a disservice. It’s time for both organizations to change course and follow the flag.
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