Death Map a Picture of Natural Hazards in U.S.
BioMed Researchers Find Heat is Most Fatal Hazardous Weather
Dec 17, 2008
Although natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes may get more publicity, heat and thunderstorms kill more people. A recent study by BioMed has gathered the data about deaths cause by natural hazards across the United States to create a picture of what regions have higher death rates due to hazardous weather.
BioMed Research Death Map
BioMed Central has announced that researchers have produced a map, called the United States Death Map. The map provides a picture of the likelihood of dying due to natural disasters and events such as floods, earth quakes and extreme weather.
Researchers Susan Cutter and Kevin Borden, for the University of South Carolina, Columbia gathered nationwide data from as far back as 1970 to create a map which can be used to identify areas with a higher than average rate of deaths due to natural hazards and disasters.
Mortality Due to Severe Weather
The highest rate of hazard mortality is in the South, with deaths from severe weather hazards and tornadoes. The northern Great Plains Region, with seasons of cold and drought, had a rate of elevated risk. The mountain west experienced hazardous winter weather and flooding. The south central US was also considered dangerous, with the threat of floods and tornadoes.
Heat and drought ranked the highest in the hazard categories, causing 19.6% of the deaths attributed to hazardous natural causes. Severe summer weather was a close second cause of death, at 18.8%. Winter weather caused 18.1% of the deaths attributed to natural hazards.
Geophysical events (earthquakes, wildfires and hurricanes) contributed less than 5% of the total death rate due to hazards.
Death Map a Blueprint
Cutter said it was noteworthy that the highly publicized, catastrophic events, such as hurricanes and earth quakes are responsible for relatively few deaths compared to more frequent but less catastrophic events, such as heat waves and severe summer or winter weather.
The authors of the study concluded that the results of the study were unsurprising. There was a greater risk of death along the hurricane coasts, in the interior west and in the South. These are areas prone to natural disasters in addition to being areas with an expanding population.
The study may be used as a blueprint to identify areas where more thorough study may be warranted. This study as a first attempt in compiling a national map of death hazards, county by county.
The Death map may be an important educational tool, to make citizens more aware of the hazards in their regions. Data from this research could also be used to help direct education to specific states and counties.
Resources
BioMed Press Release on Eureka Alert
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