From Bedrooms to Kitchens, Europe Ponders How Cold Is Too Cold
With fuel in short supply, thermostats will be turned down this winter. From lap cats to quilts to brisk walks, here’s how to make the best of a bad situation.
Photo Illustration: 731; Photo: Getty Images
More people die in the winter than in the summer, and not only because it’s cold outside. Indoor cold, it turns out, can be just as dangerous. European health data have long shown that milder climates, where homes are often drafty and poorly heated, have the highest levels of excess mortality in the winter. Portugal’s winter death rate, for instance, is far higher than Finland’s.
Despite a recent dip in gas prices, public health authorities fret that high energy costs will leave many Europeans unable to adequately heat their homes this winter. England risks a humanitarian crisis, Michael Marmot, director of the UCL Institute of Health Equity in London, warned in the BMJ research journal in September. The National Health Service is setting up round-the-clock “war rooms” to manage demand, saying respiratory infections such as Covid-19, flu, pneumonia, and acute bronchitis are likely to fill as many as half of hospital beds this winter.