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[Liljagare]

That study seems to include 53 countries. EU has 27. "Southern Europe and western Europe suffered between 80 and 290 times the number of fatalities as northern Europe and the Western Balkan countries, though the aggregate average populations are only between five and 10 times larger. Compared to central-eastern European countries, the number of people who died in southern Europe and western Europe is roughly between 12 to 28 times as large, against total average populations which are around twice the size."

Economic losses and fatalities from weather- and climate-related extremes

This briefing is about the significant fatalities and economic losses from natural hazards between 1980 and 2023. It also examines the widening insurance protection gap, includes fresh data on six Western Balkan countries and insights to complement the relevant annual indicator .

www.eea.europa.eu

Now, try to find a similar study done for the US.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Can only speak for Scandinavia, we have heat pumps instead of AC's. We still hit major temps during summer, but a heat pump is reversable. Heat pumps are very common, pure AC units, hardly anyone owns them. The heat pumps let us stay warm though too when it's -25 outside. Ground heat/cooling ftw.

Same thing I had installed in my home in Indiana, have a 5 ton outdoor unit with a 7 ton air handler in the basement with back up emergency heat coils and it does an amazing job

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

Currently in Georgia and the heat outside is quite unbearable. But everywhere has AC and it's great. I walked up stone mountain and I was dripping in sweat at the top.

Before I came here I did a week in Italy which was actually hotter or at least the same. Ac in restaurants. First hotel had a ceiling fan which was just as good as AC.
Didn't really get strong ac vibes in Italy though.

 

[SomeNorseGuy]

As a Norwegian I've never seen a window mounted AC unit in all of my life. But then again we have 2 months of summer and a solid 6 months of winter. On the other hand I've also never seen a firearm, outside of hunting rifles/antiques.

I might not get the fascination you Americans have for guns, but it's not place to judge a place and culture I've never been a part of. All I'll say that your police officers can't possibly be paid enough, talk about high risk career.

 

[TDiddyLive]

By comparison you have way less control over dying or not if you are shot by a gun.

You can definitely limit your likelihood of being shot by a gun. Of all the yearly gun deaths, close to 60% of those suicide. That's seems like an easy way to lower those odds. A small percentage come from being killed by the police. I do my best not to break laws (only occasional traffic violations) and I comply with cops when they do talk to me. Look, my survival rate went up! And another percentage of deaths are from people using firearms in self defense against their assailant. I'm not violently attacking anyone so more survival points for me! And of the actual murders that occur, the vast majority are personal, directed attacks on specific people, like gang violence. Not involved there either so my gun survival stats are through the roof!

A completely preventable disease that is, unlike heat waves which are hard to accomodate for since European weather is generally very fluctuating, with intense heat only existing for about 1-2 months a year.

Hard to accommodate for? You just said it happens EVERY SINGLE YEAR. I'm not sure they is anything easier to accommodate for than something THAT ALWAYS HAPPENS.

 

[MisterFalcon]

Does this calculation compensate for the difference between ten 84 year olds dying a month earlier and ten 12 year old kids being blown to bits by an AR-15 in life years lost?:

Not even starting on the 25-34 aged fentanyl overdoses.

 

[Klosshufvud]

Hard to accommodate for? You just said it happens EVERY SINGLE YEAR. I'm not sure they is anything easier to accommodate for than something THAT ALWAYS HAPPENS.

Europe is a large place and while some places like southern Italy/Spain/Greece do have extreme heat during June/July, it's nothing compared to many American states which are in actuality deserts with roads and buildings. Europe does not have that kind of consistent heat, why building a huge AC infrastructure network is probably not viable economically.

Honestly, this is an insane argument to me as an American.

First we don't rank life here in America. So I don't count the years left until death as relevant to this. Do murderers get less time in EU for murdering the elderly? In America they get MORE time. Elderly are a protected class and elder abuse is strictly enforced. In fact, they will get you if you are elderly adjacent and don't help. If if your mom and dad die in a house without AC that you visit often, you will be answering questions.

Don't be disingenous. You know full well frailty matters here. This rationale is also why a flu does not lead to system wide lockdowns, despite posing a potentially lethal threat to elderly. Old people die, and not taking into equation the amount of lost years makes for hugely misleading stats. This is like saying that dementia kills more people than war and we should focus resources on dementia research rather than preserving peace - which makes for a huge unjustice to kids and teenagers that die during war, having to die before even living a complete life, compared to an 85 year old just diagnosed with Alzheimers.

You absolutely do rank life in America too. Visit a hospital, see what kind of treatment an 85 year old gets compared to a 35 year old. Healthcare takes overall age and frailty into consideration all the time. I know for some people it's shocking that old people die but it's what nature is.

Regardless, this comparison between Europe and US is illogical regardless since the places hit by heat waves have general a level of wealth well below that of US. We're not talking about Germany or Denmark here. We're talking about countries with some cases barely functional roads.

This whole thread is stupid and does not take into consideration the millions of biases in this comparison.