alt.hn

6/28/2026 at 6:42:02 AM

Yes, Europe's heat waves are deadlier than American gun violence

https://fortune.com/2026/06/26/heat-death-europe-ac-american-gun-violence-climate-change-hot-summer/

by m_mueller

6/28/2026 at 8:33:56 AM

The article scrutinizes the viral headline. They conclude that it is mostly true, despite major statistical blunders.

As you'd expect from any viral headline there are things that invite misinterpretation. From the article:

> when [...] expressing both figures as rates per 100,000 people, the picture shifts. “Gun deaths in the US are now slightly larger than European heat death rates,” she wrote.

> What the data is actually showing, she argued, is something simpler: status quo bias. [...] Europe would never absorb tens of thousands of annual gun deaths without demanding legislative action. America would never absorb tens of thousands of annual heat deaths without demanding someone install a thermostat. [...] Things don’t have to be this bad. It’s a choice.

by Matumio

6/28/2026 at 9:00:59 AM

That last point for me is crucial. That's why the comparison IMO holds - a mostly preventable cause of death, ignored for political reasons.

by m_mueller

6/28/2026 at 9:55:21 AM

America would never absorb tens of thousands of annual gun deaths without demanding someone introduce a gun regulation. [...] Things don’t have to be this bad. It’s a choice.

by general1465

6/28/2026 at 11:25:34 AM

We’ll see how the discussion changes if/when the us southwest runs out of water or gets too warm. Or if/when the crop production of the Midwest suffers. I guess at that point the us will have both problems?

by jleyank

6/28/2026 at 9:57:49 AM

I don't see a problem to be honest. People who want to will buy AC, it is not prohibited to own one. People who are stubborn and won't buy one will die. Stubborn people refusing AC are usually old people so I think it is a win/win situation.

by general1465

6/28/2026 at 4:14:39 PM

a) most people where I live are renters. property prices make it so.

b) in many if not most places (in Northern Europe), AC requires a permit, is very hard to get approved or even forbidden.

by m_mueller

6/28/2026 at 4:33:56 PM

Who issues permits to which machines one can buy? Do you need a permit for a heater? Maybe whoever issues these permits needs their guidelines changed.

by snypher

6/28/2026 at 7:26:27 PM

and that's exactly the point: regulations absolutely need to change, just like gun laws in the US.

by m_mueller

6/28/2026 at 12:27:16 PM

[dead]

by cthe

6/28/2026 at 9:52:06 AM

we are fucked, you know, we know, I know, but in this horrible random, probably actualy it's somebody else is getting fucked way, and you have stuff to do, that inevitably and even more horribly is contributing to getting fucked, which makes even thinking about it all a head fuck, so you do stuff to help a bit, but things get more fucked anyway, and you consider getting a gun.

by metalman