People are dying from the cold at an alarming rate in the United States. The numbers doubled within the past decade, with the number of cold-related deaths rising significantly between 2017 and 2022.
These numbers come from a Harvard Medical School study published in JAMA using data collected from the CDC. Between 1999 and 2022, there were over 40,000 cold-related deaths.
As scientists have been saying for years, climate change is going to take the weather patterns we’re used to and evolve them into stronger, more erratic versions of themselves. Globally, 5 million people a year die from abnormal temperatures, a number that’s only going to rise as climate change worsens.
Another factor compounding the issue is homelessness. Since 2016, levels of homelessness have increased, leaving a lot of people literally out in the cold just as the effects of climate change really started to kick in, making winters by and large harsher than ever before.
The deaths are most common in people over 75 and among Black and Native Americans. As for where it’s happening most, that would be the Midwest, a region with historically harsh winters growing even more unforgiving as the years pass.
The study’s authors say that lower-income and vulnerable individuals need more reliable heating sources, and access to warming centers should be expanded. Warming centers are short-term emergency shelters that operate when temperatures get too cold for people to survive either on the streets or in their homes.
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