On February 12, Brianna Mohr, a healthy and athletic 21-year-old hiker was found on an Adirondack mountain after freezing to death. Officials have released few details about the tragedy other than confirmation of the cause of death — hypothermia — after an autopsy by a forensic pathologist.
Here’s a comment someone left online about this story:
RULE #1 – “Always hike with another person.”
RULE #2 – “Always assume you may need to spend the night in the field because of some incident. This means being prepared.”
Excellent advice, but as a long-time solo hiker myself, I confess I’ve broken both of these rules.
I’m not the only one. Anyone else here a fan of Cheryl Strayed’s memoir Wild? Maybe we’re both lucky to have survived our adventures.
Definitions, signs and symptoms, autopsy findings
I covered these topics in my blog on lethal hypothermia a couple of years ago. You’ll also find several interesting case studies there.
How many people are freezing to death?
Cold exposure was the underlying or contributory cause of death for more than forty thousand people in the United States from 1999-2022. The mortality rate for cold-related deaths almost doubled over that time period, with most of the increase occurring from 2017-2022.
Just as the cost of air-conditioning soars in summer, the cost of heating soars in winter. With the twin threats of rising energy costs and power outages from increasingly severe winter storms, more hypothermia deaths seem inevitable.
Cold Water Deaths
Residents of states like Tennessee and Texas, unaccustomed to severe winter weather, may be at greater risk of cold-related deaths. Three young brothers in Bonham, Texas died after falling through the ice on a local pond. I couldn’t find any report of autopsies, only a statement by the local sheriff that the boys died of drowning. Drowning, not hypothermia, may be the cause of death in many cold-water immersion deaths. That’s because drowning due to cold shock happens even faster than hypothermia.
It doesn’t have to be winter or even cold weather for hypothermia to set in. Cold water immersion during recreational activities like white water rafting requires fast action to counteract hypothermia. White water rafting in Colorado, a fellow rafter fell into the water as we paddled our way through a rapid. When we pulled him out, he was incoherent and barely moving after less than two minutes in the frigid snow-melt waters. Of course we had no guide or wetsuits, just supreme confidence in our invincibility. We were lucky no one died.
Who’s at risk of freezing to death?
You don’t need to climb a mountain in freezing weather to die of hypothermia. By early February, at least thirteen people found outside (it’s not yet clear how many, if any, were unhoused) in New York City had succumbed to the extreme cold much of the country has endured this winter.
People, at least adults, who voluntarily engage in outdoor activities in cold weather presumably know the risks. But prisoners like 34-year-old Lamar Walker, who froze to death naked in a cell in DeKalb County, Georgia? He had no choice in the matter. “Deprived of liberty,” prisoners are at the mercy of the state.
Being poor and unable to afford soaring heating bills can be a killer too. In the United Kingdom, almost five thousand excess winter deaths in 2022-2023 were blamed on “cold and damp homes.” The elderly are the most vulnerable, both physiologically and financially.
What can be done?
Freezing to death is preventable. But, as with other preventable deaths—accidents, drug overdoses, suicides, homicides—intense, often politically-charged controversies about underlying social issues like homelessness, climate change, and energy policy overshadow efforts to find effective solutions.
It is painful to me to see public officials refuse to release information about deaths that impact public health. We should applaud the NY Medical Examiner’s Office and other coroners/medical examiners who offer transparency when politicians do not.
Which is more deadly? Cold or heat?
As usual, the answer is “it depends.”
A 2015 international study published in the Lancet found that “cold was responsible for a higher proportion of deaths than was heat.” That’s obviously extremely dependent on location and increasingly erratic weather patterns.
In the U.S., the CDC and NOAA don’t agree on the answer to this question. There are many reasons for this, but one of them is the fact that death certificates for environmental exposure deaths are often inaccurate or incomplete.
Rather than nitpick about which cause of death is more common, maybe we should just call them “extreme temperature exposure” deaths. “Extreme” temperature is a relative concept. Unusually high and low temps in places where the population isn’t used to them are riskier than more extreme temperatures in historically cold or hot places. If you’re from Alberta, you might be well-adapted to walking your dog in -20-degree weather. But in Florida, neither the humans, the iguanas, nor the orange groves are prepared for below freezing weather. (I must say, I felt better about the frozen iguanas when I learned they’re an invasive species.)
Conclusion
Changing weather patterns are causing more cold-related deaths, a trend that mirrors the increase in heat-related deaths in recent years. Sadly, solutions to the underlying issues — climate change and a failing energy grid — seem out of reach at this time. In the meantime, more public education on prevention, greater transparency on heat- and cold-related deaths, individual awareness, and looking out for our neighbors are key survival strategies as we adapt to an increasingly hostile physical environment.
Photo credit for featured image: Kanenori on Pixabay