A new study debunks scientific claims that global warming will lead to less winter-related deaths, HealthDay reported.
Researchers at Columbia University analyzed temperature and mortality data from 36 U.S. cities and Paris and found that a warming climate trend led to much smaller reductions in cold-related deaths than some experts have anticipated.
"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," Patrick Kinney, lead author of the study and the director of Columbia's Climate and Health Program, told HealthDay.
For the study, researchers obtained mortality rates from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics and the French National Institute for Statistics and Economics Studies that consumed "more than three decades of information" and compared them to temperature data, The Dispatch Times reported. They saw that cities with warmer winters have similar rates of winter deaths compared to their colder winter-counterparts and that there was little relationship evident between mortality and cold temperatures.
"These cities vary widely in demography, urban design, and socio-cultural background, all of which might influence exposure to outdoor temperature and related mortality risks," Kinney, who serves on the New York City Panel on Climate Change, said in a statement.
Based on the weak correlation they found between temperature differences and winter death rates, researchers conclude that other seasonal factors are driving winter excess mortality including lack of exercise, low humidity and time spent indoors which increase the risk of catching the flu or developing other respiratory infections and its complications.
"Some have claimed that warmer winters due to climate change will lead to big reductions in winter deaths. Our work suggests that this is unlikely to be the case," Kinney explained.
The findings are detailed in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
