News review
Sustainable Research
Study con?rms link between
climate change and deaths
Research uncovers clear increase in premature deaths with extreme temperatures
By Stuart Qualtrough
ncreased
I caused bytemperatures
ongoing
climate change in
Stockholm, Sweden, between
1980 and 2009 caused 300 more
premature deaths than if the
temperature rise did not occur.
In Sweden as a whole, this would
mean about 1,500 more premature
deaths, according to a study from
researchers at Umeå University
published in the journal Nature
Climate Change.
Global warming does not only
give a general rise in temperature,
but also increases the frequency,
intensity and duration of heatwaves.
Previous studies have shown that
these changes are associated with
increased mortality, especially
during extremely hot periods. Some
also speculated that mortality
associated with extreme cold could
drop as a result of a warmer climate.
Research con?rms increased mortality from effects of climate change
Researchers at the Department
of Public Health and Clinical
Medicine, Umeå University,
conducted a study in which they
examined the extent to which
mortality associated with extreme
temperatures occurred in Stockholm
during 1980-2009. To assess what
can be regarded as extreme
temperatures, they also looked at
corresponding data for 1900-1929.
The study shows that spells
of extremely high temperatures
rose signi?cantly over the period
1980-2009, all of which contributed
to about 300 more deaths during
these heatwaves than was the case
without climate change.
“Mortality associated with
extreme heat during the relevant
period was doubled,” says Daniel
Oudin Åström, PhD student in
Occupational and Environmental
Medicine, who conducted the study.
“Furthermore, we saw that even
though the winters have become
milder, extremely cold periods
occurred more often, which also
contributed to a small increase in
mortality during the winter.”
The researchers only examined
really extreme temperatures.
Therefore, premature deaths caused
by less extreme highs and lows are
not included in the ?gures.
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