On a recent cold winter day, residents of Munich were surprised to see people skiing in the street. Yes, that is how much snow fell in the German city and other parts of Europe during the early winter of 2023-24.

Image: Creative Commons under Unsplash

Despite a disruption to both ground and air travel, the Germans survived and most had access to heating and basic utilities. But not everyone in our world is as blessed as those living in Western economies that were built on fossil fuels.

Billions in our world do not have access to secure sources of heat and electricity. For these, winter can be a death blow and getting them reliable fuels like coal is looking like mission impossible because of the war against fossil fuels in the name of climate change.

Snow is deadly and is not going away

Winter’s icy chill claims more lives than scorching summer heat, according to global analyses of fatalities caused by various natural hazards.

A 2023 health study done across 854 European cities shows that an estimated annual excess of 203,620 deaths were due to cold while just 20,173 were attributed to heat. In comparative terms, only 1 in 10 excess deaths from extreme temperatures were attributable to heat, and a majority were due to cold.

Yet, the gravity of winter’s hazard has been overshadowed by the prevailing discourse on purported man-made climate change. We’ve been inundated with warnings about the perils of warming. But historically, it is the cold that has been disastrous. It has altered the course of history across the world and left people scrambling for food as plant life dwindled.

The fear-mongering around warming aside, winter’s cold bite is going nowhere and will continue to test humankind’s survival mechanisms. Since August, snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has been at or above the 57-year mean, indicating conducive conditions for frozen precipitation.

Image: Rutgers Snow Lab Northern Hemisphere Snow Cover Extent for 2023 in Purple

Throughout history, temperatures have exhibited great volatility, with alternating periods of warming and cooling occurring on a regular basis. That’s why the abundance of snow this year should come as no surprise. Unfortunately, mainstream media’s influence has misled many to believe that unprecedented warming would make snow a less frequent event.

Compounding this ignorance of facts is a campaign to eliminate fossil fuels to mitigate the possibility of a world made uninhabitable by overheating.

Pseudoscience endangers people with impractical energy policies

With climate science co-opted by a worldwide political crusade against human-induced global warming, communities may find themselves ill-equipped to face upcoming winter weather.

In regions with particularly harsh winters and limited access to reliable heating sources, the threat of death and illness due to anti-fossil fuel policies is particularly grave. Central Asia, where economic hardship and energy constraints converge, exemplifies this challenge. In places like Mongolia, staying warm is a continual wintertime focus.

With many households depending on coal and frequent blackouts impacting those who are connected to the grid, the situation can become grim fast. This year, the country’s imports of electricity from Russia were disrupted, resulting in load shedding to millions of people in the middle of winter.

At minus 35-degrees Fahrenheit, the people of Mongolia were left to fend for themselves. To brave this harsh climate, they rely on just two crucial energy sources: internal electricity generation from their plentiful coal reserves and the direct use of coal for heating homes. When faced with below-freezing, snow-blanketed winter days, neither wind nor solar power can guarantee a steady energy supply.

In other countries of the region, the scenario is similar. Destitute communities in Afghanistan rely on coal to endure the winter. In Kyrgyzstan, the unreliability of hydropower results in a continuous need for coal. Likewise, people in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan depend on coal for warmth, although the latter is also increasing its reliance on gas.

It’s easy for affluent politicians who fly in private planes across the Western world to champion the elimination of fossil fuels, ignoring the bone-chilling grip of winter on faraway communities.

An honest western media would report the critical role of fossil fuels in supporting human life during harsh winter conditions. However, that fact contradicts the false narrative of a world doomed by warming.

Vijay Jayaraj is a Research Associate at the CO2 Coalition, Arlington, Virginia. He holds a master’s degree in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia, U.K.

On a recent cold winter day, residents of Munich were surprised to see people skiing in the street. Yes, that is how much snow fell in the German city and other parts of Europe during the early winter of 2023-24.

Despite a disruption to both ground and air travel, the Germans survived and most had access to heating and basic utilities. But not everyone in our world is as blessed as those living in Western economies that were built on fossil fuels.

Billions in our world do not have access to secure sources of heat and electricity. For these, winter can be a death blow and getting them reliable fuels like coal is looking like mission impossible because of the war against fossil fuels in the name of climate change.

Snow is deadly and is not going away

Winter’s icy chill claims more lives than scorching summer heat, according to global analyses of fatalities caused by various natural hazards.

A 2023 health study done across 854 European cities shows that an estimated annual excess of 203,620 deaths were due to cold while just 20,173 were attributed to heat. In comparative terms, only 1 in 10 excess deaths from extreme temperatures were attributable to heat and a majority were due to cold.

Yet, the gravity of winter’s hazard has been overshadowed by the prevailing discourse on purported man-made climate change. We’ve been inundated with warnings about the perils of warming. But historically, it is the cold that has been disastrous. It has altered the course of history across the world and left people scrambling for food as plant life dwindled.

The fear mongering around warming aside, winter’s cold bite is going nowhere and will continue to test humankind’s survival mechanisms. Since August, snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has been at or above the 57-year mean, indicating conducive conditions for frozen precipitation.

Image: Rutgers Snow Lab Northern Hemisphere Snow Cover Extent for 2023 in Purple

Throughout history, temperatures have exhibited great volatility, with alternating periods of warming and cooling occurring on a regular basis. That’s why the abundance of snow this year should come as no surprise. Unfortunately, mainstream media’s influence has misled many to believe that unprecedented warming would make snow a less frequent event.

Compounding this ignorance of facts is a campaign to eliminate fossil fuels to mitigate the possibility of a world made uninhabitable by overheating.

Pseudoscience endangers people with impractical energy policies

With climate science co-opted by a worldwide political crusade against human-induced global warming, communities may find themselves ill-equipped to face upcoming winter weather.

In regions with particularly harsh winters and limited access to reliable heating sources, the threat of death and illness due to anti-fossil fuel policies is particularly grave. Central Asia, where economic hardship and energy constraints converge, exemplifies this challenge. In places like Mongolia, staying warm is a continual wintertime focus.

With many households depending on coal and frequent blackouts impacting those who are connected to the grid, the situation can become grim fast. This year, the country’s imports of electricity from Russia were disrupted, resulting in load shedding to millions of people in the middle of winter.

At minus 35-degrees Fahrenheit, the people of Mongolia were left to fend for themselves. To brave this harsh climate, they rely on just two crucial energy sources: internal electricity generation from their plentiful coal reserves and the direct use of coal for heating homes. When faced with below-freezing, snow-blanketed winter days, neither wind nor solar power can guarantee a steady energy supply.

In other countries of the region, the scenario is similar. Destitute communities in Afghanistan rely on coal to endure the winter. In Kyrgyzstan, the unreliability of hydropower results in a continuous need for coal. Likewise, people in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan depend on coal for warmth, although the latter is also increasing its reliance on gas.

It’s easy for affluent politicians who fly in private planes across the Western world to champion the elimination of fossil fuels, ignoring the bone-chilling grip of winter on faraway communities.

An honest western media would report the critical role of fossil fuels in supporting human life during harsh winter conditions. However, that fact contradicts the false narrative of a world doomed by warming.

This commentary was first published at Real Clear Energy on January 4, 2023.

Vijay Jayaraj is a Research Associate at the CO2 Coalition, Arlington, Virginia. He holds a master’s degree in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia, UK.