Findings of a new study have established a link between temperature variability and rise in death rates of human beings. The study, published in Nature Climate Change this week, compared temperature records to death rates of people over the age of 65 in New England.

The study made it clear that more heat will hit planet earth in future and milder winters will not be enough to compensate extreme summers. The researchers determined the death rate jumped by approximately 1% when the average temperature in summer increased by 1°C. Such a rise in winter could have saved many lives that are lost to extreme cold, but the fact is the decline in the death rate was only 0.6%.

For the study, the researchers looked into temperature data taken from satellite surface temperature measurements. The data provided them access to the temperatures of blocks as small as square kilometres throughout the region. After this, they held comparisons between the temperature data and approximately 900,000 deaths in people above 65yrs. The deaths were recorded by Medicare in New England between the years 2000 and 2008.

The researchers said wide fluctuation in temperatures is especially more dangerous. More the fluctuation in temperatures, more the rise was in the death rates.

The researchers said people acclimatize to climate, but when it changes frequently, people struggle to adapt. It's has not been understood yet why temperature variability is associated with higher death rates.