A new study suggests that warmer winter brought by climate change would not reduce the number of people dying during the season.
Researchers at Columbia University created statistical models to observe the factors that contribute to the mortality rate of older people during winter in the U.S. They compared the winter temperature and the death toll of the U.S. to France to determine how climate change could affect the health of older people.
"For years I've been hearing people say that global warming will reduce winter deaths but I wanted to check this claim out for myself," Professor Patrick Kinney, study author from Columbia University, said in a press release.
The analysis showed that the mortality rate remained the same even after interchanging the cold winter with warm winter, and vice versa. France experiences warmer winters compared to the U.S. The researchers concluded that climate change would neither be beneficial nor harmful to people's health.
"Most older people who die over the winter don't die from cold. They die from complications related to flu and other respiratory diseases. Unfortunately the holiday season probably plays a part; when older people mix with the younger generations of their families, they come into contact with all the bugs that the kids have brought home from school," Prof Kinney said.
Aside from the flu and respiratory diseases, the researchers found that most winter deaths are due to slip and falls, heart attacks and hypothermia. The researchers suggest vaccination and good hygiene as the most effective interventions.
About 2,000 people die in the U.S. per year due to weather-related causes of death, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). About 63 percent of these deaths occurred during the winter season, compared to 31 percent death rate during the summer.
The study was published in the June 19 issue of the Environmental Research Letters.
