Heat to Death

Yesterday I said "I don't worry that much about the heat,  freeze to death - yes; but not the heat"  In fact, I said we are a nation of wimps.  I can remember the hot summers without airconditioning.  That was what fans, sprinklers, and airconditioned movie theaters are for. 

So I was shocked this morning to hear on NPR the New York Health Commissioner Tom Farley say, "More people die from heat each year than from all other natural disasters".  WHAT - the data skeptic in me doesn't believe that!

So a quick search on the internet yielded the following table and equally skeptic researcher:

So even though my point appears correct about the risk of cold - excessive heat is a close second.