Temperatures plunged across the East Coast on Tuesday after a winter storm dropped heavy snow from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic, pointing to the dangers of winter extremes even as the planet rapidly warms.
Winter temperatures are rising overall, but research indicates that punctuations of extreme cold and snow events may be happening more often in some parts of the U.S., potentially driven by atmospheric changes linked to global warming.
At the same time, cold-related deaths in the U.S. are on the rise.
A study published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that cold-related mortalities have been trending upward for the past two decades, and especially since 2017. The research examined death statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, concluding that older adults are especially vulnerable, as well as Native American, Alaska Native and Black communities.
