Cold or heat – scientists were twisted, the dwellings of Europe are better.

Europe has been better adapted to low temperatures over the past two decades than high.

This was shown in the research of scientists from the Barcelona Institute of Global Health (Spain), which analyzed temperature and mortality records in more than 800 regions of 35 European countries from 2003 to 2020, reports Eurekalert.

Researchers found that:

• The relative risk of death at the lowest temperatures decreased by 2% per year;
• The relative risk of death at the highest temperatures also decreased, but at a lower average speed – by 1% per year.

Over time, we began to cope with low temperatures – a process known in science as “adaptation”. In hot weather, people also become more stable, although this improvement is less than adaptation to cold, ”the researchers emphasize.

It is noted that traditionally, studies of this type relied on fixed temperature thresholds for calculating risks, not given that the vulnerability to identical temperatures is different in all parts of Europe.

To overcome this restriction, the team has developed a new concept: ERT.

Thanks to the cross reference to regional temperature and mortality data, this new approach made it possible to calculate the temperature at which the risk of death exceeds a certain threshold for each geographical field. Researchers also took into account the variations of mortality in order to reflect the adaptation to temperature over time.

Using this methodology, the team noticed that in the period 2003-2020. In Europe:

• It was 2.07 less dangerous for cold days;
• On the contrary, the number of dangerous hot days increased by 0.28 days a year.

Interestingly, not all parts of Europe suffered the same. For example, in the regions of southeast Europe, despite the warmer conditions, there were more dangerous hot and cold days, which led to a higher risk of their mortality.

The vulnerability to extreme temperatures is significantly different in different regions, while the regions of southern Europe are more sensitive to temperature changes than in the regions of Northern Europe, the researchers emphasize.

This inequality is partially explained by socio-economic factors, including insufficient housing insulation, lower health care expenses and limited access to social support or assistance in vulnerable areas of the population, ”the researchers say, scientists will say.

Thus, researchers note that the results show that although Europe has achieved significant progress in adaptation to the cold, the strategy for combating mortality associated with thermal strikes was less effective.

Thus, as of 2024, only 20 out of 38 European countries introduced temperature monitoring systems, and 17 countries still have no plans for healthcare.

Source: Eurekalert

Source: Racurs

David

I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.