August 25, 2003
Heat, Death and Government
Last week a French health official resigned:
Lucien Abenhaim, France's director general of health, stepped down Monday amid calls for the resignation of his boss, Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei, who said the death toll from the heat could be as high as 5,000.The large number of deaths is startling to an American but I am a little puzzled as to what he or any other government functionary might have done differently:
1. Turned down the regions thermostat sooner?Steve Verdon indirectly suggests that the deaths are the result of long term policy and that the current government probably could have done little to help beyond, perhaps, beginning the debate to change policy.
2. Imported ice from the Arctic?
3. Quickly sent ambulances collect everyone who might die and transport them...where?
4. Installed new airconditioning systems the day before the heatwave?
5. Told everyone that its not as hot as it seems.
i don't, though, completely accept his argument that the US does not experience the same problem because cheap power has lead to wholesale air conditioning installations. Sure, cheap power has facilitated installations especially in areas with regular seasonal high heat. However, there are many areas of the US where air conditioning is the exception even though power has been cheap historically.
For instance, in the Seattle area many live just fine without air conditioning in normal conditions and below a certain price point (maybe in the $350-400 range new houses are not built with AC in this area. Like in France normally it just doesn'tget that hot for very long. But if the Seattle area experience a heat wave similar to France00 there would be quite a few folks having trouble coping and maybe dieing while in eastern Washington people routinely live in 100+ weather.
Posted by Steve on August 25, 2003
