BJORN LOMBORG: A one-sided climate focus leads us badly astray

Headlines across the world tell us that hundreds have died after the recent heatwaves in Canada and the northwestern US. The stories invariably blame climate change and admonish us to tackle it urgently. However, they mostly reveal how one-sided climate alarmist reporting leaves us badly informed.

Indeed, cold deaths vastly outweigh heat deaths worldwide. This is not just true for cold countries like Canada but also warmer countries such as the US, Spain and Brazil. Even in India, cold deaths outweigh heat deaths by seven to one. Globally, about 300,000 deaths are caused each year by heat, whereas almost 1.7-million people die of cold.

Climate policy will, at best, slightly slow the increase in heat deaths. We already know much more effective and simpler ways to help. Heat deaths are generally declining in countries with good data, because they can be effectively tackled with more widely available air-conditioning, heat alerts, open public pools and air-conditioned malls, while encouraging people to use fans and drink plenty of water.

Researchers have looked at the natural experiment in the US that happened since 2010 when fracking delivered a dramatic reduction in the costs of natural gas. This made gas-heated homes warmer and safer, because especially poorer households could afford better heating. The study estimated that these lower energy prices save about 11,000 Americans from dying in winterIf climate policy is to work, it has to drive up prices of energy to reduce consumption.

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