Study: Climate Change Causing More Deaths in USA . . . from Cold?

We keep hearing that climate change is increasing heat deaths (and migration, wars, hunger, thirst, and every other bad thing under the sun). But Bjorn Lomborg frequently points out that many more people die from cold than heat.

Now, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association tells us climate change caused increasing cold-caused deaths in the USA.

From “Cold-Related Deaths in the U.S.”:

Although mean temperatures are increasing in the US, studies have found that climate change has been linked with more frequent episodes of severe winter weather in the US over the past few decades, which may in turn be associated with increased cold-related mortality.

But winters are growing increasingly mild. At least, that was the story last year. From a CNN report:

Winter is here, but for most of the United States, it’s feeling less and less like it.

At 10:27 p.m. ET on Thursday, Earth’s Northern Hemisphere will be at its greatest tilt from the sun, marking the winter solstice: the shortest day of the year and the official start of the coldest season.

But winter is warming rapidly because of human-caused climate change and it’s having an impact on snow, tourism, winter sports, local economies, dinner plates and even allergies.

Maybe we see increased deaths from cold because more people are in danger of exposure in winter from our dysfunctional social circumstances. Yup. That seems so.

Cold-related mortality rates more than doubled in the US between 1999 and 2022. Prior research suggests that cold temperatures account for most temperature-related mortality. This study identified an increase in such deaths over the past 6 years. The underlying drivers of this trend warrant further research and may include more frequent extreme winter weather events and/or the rising burden of risk factors for cold-related mortality such as homelessness, social isolation, and substance use.

They can’t resist the climate change angle, can they?

No argument about this:

The recent and rapid increase in cold-related deaths warrants public health interventions to improve access to warming centers and indoor heating for vulnerable populations.

But really. If people die from heat, it’s climate change. If from cold, it’s climate change. Climate change. Climate change. Climate change.