whats more dangerous to US heat or cold?

Question

antartic temperatures or sizziling temperatures
we need the heat then the cold don't we?


just very curious

Answer 1

If you are out in nature and no immediate shelter can be found (with or without a.c. or heater)...

I guess it would be easier to put on more clothes on or wrap yourself up with blankets to survive extreme cold. If there is snow on the ground, you can build a snow shelter since snow and also blocks of ice can make an excellent insulator from the extreme cold. (See igloo)

In sizzling heat, finding enough fluid to keep you from getting a heat stroke or just keeping you hydrated and alive may be the toughest part. Is the water available clean and safe to drink? I guess it would not take much to boil the water for safe drinking. But that would mean more heat. And those sunburns...Ouch!

I will take the period of extreme cold weather over a period extreme of heat if I had the choice as the best of two evils.

Also...According to NOAA, from 1991-2000 in the United States

The Top 3 annual weather related killers:

1. Heat.....38%
2. Flood...16%
3. Winter Weather.....15%

Answer 2

In terms of the temperatures found on the surface of the Earth, cold has a greater capacity for harm than heat. There are temperatures in Antarctica so cold that exposure would be fatal within a very short period of time as your body's functions froze and you fell into the sleep of death. You'd also develop frostbite extremely quickly. On the other hand, there is no heat on the Earth's surface that can do the same. Instead, you'd need a period of exposure without sufficient water and shade before you'd succumb to heat stroke, and sunburn does not appear as quickly as frostbite does. Of course, there is heat inside the Earth, in the form of volcanic lava, that could kill you much faster than the hypothermic cold.

Answer 3

Heat can do more damage in theory because heat denaturises (destroys) protiens, which make up part or our bodies. you only need a 5% (of your body) 3rd degree burn to die (about the size of a 50 pence) . Hypothermia - cold is when the body cools down too much and cant function properly. This will happen slower in normal conditions as your body naturaly makes it's own heat. In ice cold water this does not apply as in water heat is exchanged exponentially quicker than in air. The other main problem with cold is water expands when it freezes and our body is 70% water so all your veins and arteries literally burst when they are frozen (frostbite).

Personally I dont think either are particularily pleasant.

Answer 4

In the US cold weather is more dangerous. People who live in hot temperatures here usually have air conditioning and are told how to avoid heatstroke (which mostly affects small children and the elderly). There are also many ways of avoiding overheating. People who live in colder latitudes, on the other hand, are more vulnerable to dangerously low temperatures. For example, they may be caught out in the snow, they may have power failure due to the extreme cold causing them to lose their source of heat, or they may simply be too poor, or may even be homeless. There's also the dangers of too much snow and ice on roads and on roofs.

Answer 5

Both can be very dangerous as the above people have said. However, I would classify heat as more dangerous as it is easier for us to insulate our body against extreme cold (using many layers of clothing for example) than to cool down in extreme heat.

Answer 6

Extremes of both hot and cold are equally dangerous
human flesh freezes at minus 22 degrees centigrade
and the human body cannot survive for long periods in temperatures
above 47 degrees centigrade.

Answer 7

Depends where in the US you live. On the whole its BOTH! But you can cancel out the chances of dieing from hypothermia on a Miami-beach during summer :P

Answer 8

Cold. extreme cold+strong wind+heavy snow= SEVERE COLD, FREEZE TO DEATH, SEVERE FROSTBITE.

T_T

Answer 9

both. extreme heat or cold are both dangerous

Answer 10

Heat above 40c when proteins start to burn