A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that about 2,000 deaths in America are tied to the weather and two-thirds of them can be attributed to extreme cold .
The report, 'Deaths Attributed to Heat, Cold, and Other Weather Events in the United States, 2006-2010,' described how far weather conditions were responsible for deaths in America.
Researchers from the CDC's National Centers for Health Statistics and National Center for Environmental Health analysed five-year data gathered from national death certificates. They looked into the deaths associated with the weather, such as tcold, heat, storms, floods and lighting.
The team noted there were a total of 10,649 deaths. They found that 63 percent of the deaths were because of cold weather or hypothermia. Those affected by the cold temperatures were mostly homeless, alcoholics, ill people without adequate heating and those who took part in winter activities.
Researchers found that strong heat was the second common cause of death. At least 21 per 10 million people died due to heat each year whereas 31 percent of deaths were reported due to extreme heat, heat stroke or sunstroke. Rest 6 percent of deaths comprised of storms, lighting or floods.
The team also noted that men and older people had the highest risk of death due to bad weather conditions. Men and boys had twice the risk of dying from storms, lightning or floods than women. People aged 65 and above had a higher mortality rate than the younger ones.
Researchers stated that people from cities and rural areas were at risk of dying from high temperatures and those from secluded areas had a higher death rate due to low temperatures, storms, lightning and floods.