People should be more worried about cold days than floods and other weather-related natural disasters according to a recent report.
At least 2,000 Americans each year are killed because of the weather according to a report by National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - about two-thirds of the deaths are the result of cold weather.
Researchers found that between 2006 and 2010, over 10,000 people died in the US as the result of weather-related events.
"The is the first report from the National Center for Health Statistics to focus on weather-related death by place of residence," said Jennifer Parker, chief of the special projects branch at the NCHS and report co-author, in an interview with USA Today.
The study also reported about 31 percent of weather-related deaths are heat-related, which is half as many cold-related deaths. Study authors also said that these deaths are more prevalent in low-income counties compared to high-income counties. About 6 percent of deaths are the result of storms, floods or lightning.
Heat-related deaths were higher in large cities and very rural areas. However, primarily isolated areas had the highest rate of cold weather related deaths. Higher instances of weather-related deaths in these areas could be the result of a lack of heating or air conditioning during times of the year with extreme weather conditions.
Ethnically, heat-related deaths for blacks were 2.5 times that of whites and twice as high as Hispanics. Blacks were also more prone to cold-weather related deaths. This could be because genetically they have higher incident rates of heart disease and chronic health issues. It could also be because of the higher concentration of blacks in low-income areas of large cities and in rural areas. White people, however, had twice the mortality rate as black people in deaths resulting from floods, storms and lightning.
Mortality from both types of weather conditions increased with age with the death rate from heat rising from 21 to 128 people per 10 million people per year in those over the age of 85.
Researchers said some people may find these results surprising since tornadoes and natural disasters get more media coverage and publicity.
The authors hope this study will bring awareness about the need to understand subpopulations that are more at risk for weather-related mortalities.
