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Extreme heat is worse, because you can always add more clothes or stay inside if it's too cold. Even if you remove all of your clothing you will still be too hot unless you have AC, and there is no AC outside. In the last year we have experienced both, with records high and low records here where we have lived for 28 years. We lost far more plants, and even tress in the area due to the several days over 100F and the 114 (45.5C) day in June 2021 than on the several days below freezing and one day at 9F (-12.8C) in January.
Well 9F doesn't count as extreme cold to me. Two thirds of Canada drops below -40F on most years. Granted 99% of the country lives in the warmest third of Canada, but the point is that the livability of a large chunk of the continent's landmass is limited by the extreme cold it experiences. The cold extremes in Northwest Asia are even worse.
I'm not surprised that the US has more issues with heat though. The tropics have high average temperatures, but little variation, so the record heat in those places is generally not that much.
Record high temperature of cities near the equator
Not only do most American cities have hotter heat records, but so do most of the subtropics and mid-latitudes. Even many subarctic areas of Russia and Canada that have permafrost have heat records in the 95-105F range.
The greatest heat extremes are recorded in subtropical deserts, and generally the northern hemisphere ones are hotter than the southern ones. The US is in the northern hemisphere, and either within or fairly close to the subtropics, with relatively little climate moderation, so its heat extremes rank pretty high by global standards.
Although the US does experience more extreme cold than many other parts of the world (Western Europe, Australia, Africa, Latin America), most of the US is still quite a long ways off from experiencing the worst of the world's extreme cold. Even putting aside Antarctica, most of the US does not experience Siberian or northern Canadian levels of cold, and in fact doesn't even get particularly close.
If you go with a record heat of 134F for the planet, many American cities have come within 20-30F of that. However, no American city has come within 20-30F of the coldest temperature recorded in Antarctica (-129F), and even if you put aside the ice sheet covered parts of the world, not a lot of major American population centers have come within 20-30F of the coldest temperature recorded in Siberia either (-90F).
So by global standards, Americans have much more experience with extreme heat than extreme cold. If you wear metal framed glasses in parts of Siberia during the coldest parts of winter, and try to take them off when you're outside, the skin on your face will freeze to the frame, and if you're foolish enough to take off your gloves, you hand will freeze to the frame as well.
The good thing about the sub-tropics and mid-latitudes, is that although they can get very hot in summer, the annual mean is still fairly reasonable, which means underground temperatures are still comfortable. Even if your AC breaks down, if you have a basement, the temperature there should be around 65-80F. It's true that much of the southern US doesn't have basements though, which... maybe they should reconsider.
There's around 14 million square miles of the Earth that are minimally inhabited due to cold and ice sheets, and around 10-11 million square miles that are minimally inhabited due to heat and aridity.
Extreme heat is worse, because you can always add more clothes or stay inside if it's too cold. Even if you remove all of your clothing you will still be too hot unless you have AC, and there is no AC outside. In the last year we have experienced both, with records high and low records here where we have lived for 28 years. We lost far more plants, and even tress in the area due to the several days over 100F and the 114 (45.5C) day in June 2021 than on the several days below freezing and one day at 9F (-12.8C) in January.
The last 9 months have been brutal! There are still lots of rhododendrons around town here that seem to be showing the stress from last summer. Then the cold did all sorts of damage to tender plants--the cordylines were hit particularly hard.
Edit: the native vegetation OTOH seems fine. The arbutus trees, for example, are quite happy.
Last edited by Ed's Mountain; 03-25-2022 at 09:36 AM..
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed's Mountain
The last 9 months have been brutal! There are still lots of rhododendrons around town here that seem to be showing the stress from last summer. Then the cold did all sorts of damage to tender plants--the cordylines were hit particularly hard.
Edit: the native vegetation OTOH seems fine. The arbutus trees, for example, are quite happy.
Our Rhodies seem to have recovered, but a 16 year-old Camelia is toast.
Well, it depends on the definitions of extreme heat and extreme cold.
If temps above 30C/86F are considered "extreme heat" and temps below -15C/5F are considered extreme cold like Toronto, then extreme cold is much worse than "extreme heat".
But if temps above 38C/100F are considered extreme heat and temps below 4C/40F are considered "extreme cold", then of course "extreme cold" is better than extreme heat.
Well, it depends on the definitions of extreme heat and extreme cold.
If temps above 30C/86F are considered "extreme heat" and temps below -15C/5F are considered extreme cold like Toronto, then extreme cold is much worse than "extreme heat".
But if temps above 38C/100F are considered extreme heat and temps below 4C/40F are considered "extreme cold", then of course "extreme cold" is better than extreme heat.
Good point. Perhaps the definition depends on where you live.
Your first example could apply to my location of Juneau, AK because it almost never gets that high or low.
However, my guess is that most residents would say that above 86F is worse than below 5F.
However, my guess is that most residents would say that above 86F is worse than below 5F.
Then those residents are mostly Canadians. At least people who live in Tri-state area would definitely prefer mid 80s, because these temps are closer to normal in July. But 5F is just incredibly cold not only in Northeast but also in Midwest, considering upper 20s and low 30s are what locals except in January.
Then those residents are mostly Canadians. At least people who live in Tri-state area would definitely prefer mid 80s, because these temps are closer to normal in July. But 5F is just incredibly cold not only in Northeast but also in Midwest, considering upper 20s and low 30s are what locals except in January.
Even in Toronto, 86F is more common than 5F
This is for my closest weather station in the western suburbs of Toronto
Winter 2019-2020 days -15C & below
Dec: -17.0
Jan: -15.0, -17.0, -15.0
Feb: -22.0, -18.0, -15.0
Total: 7 days
(also measuring it this way makes cold temperatures seem more common than they are, ex it can be -15C at 11:00pm and -17C at 3am, causing one cold night to count towards 2 days... however it's extremely unlikely for temperatures to be at 30C+ until midnight)
Personally, I prefer 30C over -15C. 30C isn't that hot for me. If you're in the shade with a cold drink, it's downright enjoyable. There is not way -15C is enjoyable, only tolerable. You might enjoy playing hockey in -15C, but it's the hockey you'll be enjoying, while tolerating the cold.
35C is quite a bit different, at least if it's humid, which around here, it usually is. If you're well hydrated, in the shade, and just laying by the pool, maybe you can tolerate it, just like you can tolerate -10C or -15C under certain conditions, but there's not really any way for it to be enjoyable.
I can say is that I’m far more adaptable to extreme heat and find it far more tolerable than extreme cold, especially since other than 25+ years in a cold climate(Indianapolis) that I have more or less been far more accepting of both extreme heat and humidity rather than the arctic chill that I had to contend with in Indiana for most of my life thus far, I’d take temperatures in the 90’s or 100’s with moderate to oppressive humidity levels over bitterly cold temperatures any day since I was born in NOLA
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