Extreme Weather Events, Mortality, and Migration

Olivier Deschenes and Enrico Moretti

The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2009, vol. 91, issue 4, 659-681

Abstract: We estimate the effect of extreme weather on life expectancy in the United States. Using high-frequency data, we find that both extreme heat and cold result in immediate increases in mortality. The increase in mortality following extreme heat appears mostly driven by near-term displacement, while the increase in mortality following extreme cold is long lasting. We estimate that the number of annual deaths attributable to cold temperature is 0.8% of average annual deaths in our sample. The longevity gains associated with mobility from the Northeast to the Southwest account for 4% to 7% of the total gains in life expectancy experienced by the U.S. population over the past thirty years. Copyright by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Date: 2009
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Working Paper: Extreme Weather Events, Mortality and Migration (2007)
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