I think temperatures have been quite a bit hotter in Greece than here, yet there were fewer deaths in Greece. That may be a population size effect, but I suspect it's also an infrastructure/wealth/lifestyle effect. After seeing how things are here, I'm actually surprised that the number of deaths was so low (23 in the article, I thought more were reported locally).
 Ross Gelbspan |
 And Don't Even Think About Air Conditioning!28 Jun 07
Global warming will increase world death rate The increase in extremely hot summers predicted by climate change models will lead to a higher death toll that will not be offset by fewer deaths during warmer winters, say researchers. "The increase in mortality when you have one extra cold snap is 1.59%, but the increase in mortality for an additional heatwave is 5.74%," explains Mercedes Medina-Ramón of Harvard University's School of Public Health.  global warming death rate harvard harvard school of public health mercedes medina ramon |
Yeah, but ...