Conversation
![David Watson 🥑](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="96" height="96"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
Post your reply
Those factors mean Americans are more at-risk for heat-related deaths, even after accounting for Europe being a little older than America.
So let's be clear:
Europeans die from heat at relatively high rates; Americans survive it with technology.
What technology?
It's the terraforming technology of air conditioning.
Install A/C and the heat-related deaths will mostly disappear, if Europe can keep their grid operational.
And yes, there's a vast disparity in internationally comparable numbers. The Lancet numbers are intended to be internationally comparable.
With that in mind, check out another indicator: the heat-related mortality rate attributable to anthropogenic climate change, 1991-2018.
![Image](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="685" height="329"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
Sources, further reading, and an average annual temperature map showing that America is really hot compared to Europe:
nature.com/articles/s4155
news.un.org/en/story/2024/
pbs.org/newshour/natio
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/
who.int/news-room/fact
lancetcountdown.org/explore-our-da
Europe would also benefit from improved heating, as they are also more likely to die cold-related deaths than Americans are.
In every region, cold is worse than heat, but European heat deaths alone roughly match American heat + cold deaths.
Terraform Europe.
Source:
Just over 1% of the ~175,000 in Europe using the WHO estimates, and just under 5% using WONDER + the ISGlobal estimates (see the JAMA article above + nature.com/articles/s4159)
Both Euro numbers are far higher than the roughly 18,000 firearm-related homicides in 2023 in the U.S.
We *really* need to normalise AC in Europe! I have so many childhood memories of being unable to sleep because of the heat and just lying awake all night drenched in sweat. The first thing I did when I got my own place was buy an AC unit. Best £1500 I’ve ever spent!
I suspect this is due, in part to our use of A/C yes, but also perhaps because we count heat-related deaths differently.
Quote
Crémieux
@cremieuxrecueil
Replying to @cremieuxrecueil
And yes, there's a vast disparity in internationally comparable numbers. The Lancet numbers are intended to be internationally comparable.
With that in mind, check out another indicator: the heat-related mortality rate attributable to anthropogenic climate change, 1991-2018.
Because we in America are civilized enough to have Air Conditioning...
Europeans would rather die than use air conditioning. In Germany, a heat wave left an infant dehydrated, so I had the mother nurse it in an idling car with the A/C on. A group of locals gathered, decrying the act as “unlawful idling,” demanding the child’s life in retribution.
local gov agencies regularly set up "public cool zones" sites & info for ppl to go to during heat 
to prevent heatstroke & dehydration. Its blasted on local media & social media. Something tells me this isn't a thing in Europe.
Or old people die of natural causes all the time. Those that die when it is hot get "heat" thrown in as a contributing factor. Sometimes it is a major contributor, but not the reason, sometimes it's not really the reason, sometimes maybe it accelerated natural passing by weeks.
Statue of John Gorrie, inventor of air conditioning in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall, donated by the State of Florida in 1914
European hate for A/C is ridiculous given that split cooling sys are now easily affordable AND don't impact the look of a bldg or require ducts..
anyone who owns a home has an AC
everyone else is fckd because no landlord is going to install AC for your comfort
the big problem is that A LOT of people rent in Europe
Most of America's mainland landmass and populated areas are in the desert, subtropical and tropical climate and all the coastal regions are highly humid and hot during summer months, while most of Europe is still glacial
A lot more people die from Cold, EVEN IN AFRICA
Yes, and they also neglect cold deaths, which outnumber heat deaths, because that could mean that the current trajectory of global warming is good.
It probably is on net…a greener world using less land with fewer weather related deaths. Do your part:
morecarbonnow
morecarbonnow
The crazy part is that it predates the recent climate movement, Europe has been allergic to AC for decades.
Possibly related side note; something I always comment on is the American use of Ice. We use a LOT of ice in our cold drinks.
I have been fortunate to travel to many parts of the world. Whenever you ask for ice you are lucky to get one or two cubes. Ask for extra and again you
We're basically an advanced species who developed a layer of thermal blubber to shield against the harsh conditions on the Terran surface.
Europe saving the US from obesity and US saving Europe from heat. It would be glorious.
This makes me think that Europe’s stance on AC is about killing the old people who would otherwise be huge health care costs.
Someone tried to tell me how bad ac was for the environment as she uses diapers on her kids
The median age of death from heat is 82, by that age most americans are dead from heart attacks or cancer.
According to chatgpt deths in US from heart attack is around 70 years old. ( Estimated median age at death from heart attack: most likely between ~65–75 years, leaning
but you should totally check out our cold-related deaths!
I keep yelling at the fat middle-aged guys to stop shoveling snow
marypatcampbell.substack.com/p/movember-202
People are also finding out about our actual gun stats
18,000 gun homicides in a nation of 100 million gun owners
Makes the heat situation even more silly
How does one die of the heat when one has running water? One might take a cool bath, or a cool shower or moisten with a cool damp cloth.
On the other hand, someone who is extremely sick and elderly is going to die anyway, and the stress of a heat event might just be the
Heat pumps, which are now more common, solve most of this. They are a reversible heating and cooling that is more efficient than conventional heating or cooling systems in moderate climates.
Did anyone seriously suggest Americans have some genetic defense against the heat? What’s so shocking is the Europeans’ obstinate refusal to solve the problem that we licked decades ago.
But what is the average age of people dying from heat? Its like 85-95 probably?
There is something else to note about Europeans. I was studying there during a heat wave, and all of the Europeans refused to drink a lot of water, because they didn't like sweating.
Euro poors have long summer vacations because it’s impossible to work without dying lmao
Imagine living without ac when it’s 95°F and humid like what kind of a life
Yes imagine living life with no AC wtf is that omg that’s lame as HELLLLLL
It was 104°F (40°C) at my place a few days ago. We somehow yet live and do useful work, thanks to air conditioning.
The color map in Europe coincides with more people >60 yrs old in those regions
:D
Cold-related deaths is is 5 instead of 2 for heat. Yea A/C is great, but heat is more important.
They won't do it. Europeans are incredibly stubborn when it comes to tje A/C thing. No one is fixing that. In 20 years they'll still be languishing misserably in the summer.
This is depressingly fascinating.
How on earth can this happen and continue? "AC is not normalized here" PEOPLE ARE DYING AND YOU DON'T SPEND ON AC BECAUSE IT'S NOT "NORMALIZED"?
It HAS to be because people are PREVENTED from buying it, right? Right???
American high obesity rates and high rates of other chronic diseases could be due to air conditioning and artificially ventilated buildings.
Hero
Quote
History Calendar
@historycalendar
Are you enjoying the sweltering heat wave? If not, you have Willis Carrier (1876 – 1950) to thank! Carrier is best known for inventing modern air conditioning with the first electrical air conditioning unit in 1902.
A/C is a luxury good to most Americans and one that we don't like to forego. For instance, it is only 25.6 Celsius right now here and my AC is keeping it a comfy 20 Celsius. Do I need to run it? No. I just want to.
If they had aor conditioners they wouldn't be as angry about climate change. They are too poor to afford using that nuch energy withiut Russian oil anyways, Russian oil is the only reason climate change ever became an environmental campaign.
I don’t think it has to do with AC.
I think that Europe is just full of pussies.
Absolutely insane that someone would live in a home without A/C. Literally zero reason to not have it installed in your home.
This just can't be an AC thing, right? There has to be something else affecting the EU for it to be this bad.
My suspicion is that Americans’ way of “being less healthy” (i.e. being fat) is actually protective for this.
The more mass you have, the better you control your inside temperature, and the more reserves of water you have to prevent dehydration.
Relevant paper (that I've read and could find nothing wrong with) estimates that most of the decline in heat-related deaths in the U.S. over the decades was due to air conditioning:
Are we sure there's no comparison issues with cause of death registration? Would need to review the Who report, but a 100x difference sounds unreal
I am pretty disappointed at what appears to be Crémieux's lack of rigor in considering the figures here. At the very least, I would expect a deep dive into the way the numbers are gathered (excess mortality in heat waves vs. deaths directly attributable to heat)and what they mean
The rest of the developed world is battling it out over AI, superconductivity, and the next chapter in the space race.
Meanwhile, in France, they're battling it out over... air conditioning.
America is hotter on average - but look where the deaths are.
Spain on average is hotter than America on average - so that is the differential, parts of Europe are hot, parts not.
Also as average life expectancy is longer in Europe there are more vulnerable people.
Air Con too
If I read this, it’s mostly abt Spain, Portugal and France. A little Italy & East Balkans also.
Washington DC used to be a death trap in the summer. It was a malarial swamp with insane temperatures. For a long time members of Congress who stayed for the summer had ridiculously high mortality rates
DeSantis, for example, made it so many heat deaths wouldn't be counted/are hidden. Most of the Sunbelt is run by evil liars, so I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be the case for multiple states.
What's weird is AC is not expensive or inaccessable to most Europeans, it just that they choose not to use it for some reason.
I hate the American cope that "Europeans are too poor for AC" because AC is CHEAP and widely available even in the poorest parts of Europe.
I've been
I live in Malta and genuinely don't know anyone who doesn't have aircon at home. Someone told me of a friend who didn't have aircon the other day and I was like "no way". I travel often to Spain for work - practically the entire country is airconned... these figures are sus.