With large swaths of the nation awash in sub-zero temperatures, Christopher Ingraham examined the lethality of extreme temperatures in an article published Saturday in The Washington Post.
In the Post, Mr. Ingraham cites mortality data relating to hypothermia (dangerously low body temperature) and hyperthermia (dangerously high body temperature) compiled by the CDC, along with a study published in the Lancet.
Here are five things to know about weather-related deaths.
1. From 1999 to 2015, more people in the U.S. died of hypothermia than hyperthermia in every year except 2006.
2. At 0.7 deaths per 100,000 people, Arizona carries the highest death rate in the nation for hyperthermia. Alaska, at 2.0 deaths per 100,000 people, tops the list of hypothermia deaths per capita in the U.S.
3. Study findings published in the Lancet suggest the disparities between cold and heat-related deaths could be attributable to the way continued exposure to extreme cold impedes the body's ability to adapt to the temperature.
4. The CDC data suggests poorer populations are more susceptible to both hyperthermia and hypothermia. According to the data, weather-related deaths were two to seven times higher in low-income counties than in more affluent communities.
5. In 2015, a little more than 800 people died from hypothermia. For the same year, 36,000 people died in traffic accidents.
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