Mortality displacement
Encyclopedia
Mortality displacement denotes a (forward) temporal shift in the rate of mortality in a given population, usually attributable to environmental phenomena such as heat wave
s or cold spells.
During heat waves, for instance, there is usually an excess mortality rate
in the population, affecting especially older adults and those who are sick. For some heat waves, however, there has also been observed a decrease in overall mortality during the subsequent weeks after a heat wave. Such short-term forward shift in mortality rate is also referred to as harvesting effect. The subsequent, compensatory reduction in mortality suggests that the heat wave had affected especially those whose health is already so compromised that they "would have died in the short term anyway".
Heat wave
A heat wave is a prolonged period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity. There is no universal definition of a heat wave; the term is relative to the usual weather in the area...
s or cold spells.
During heat waves, for instance, there is usually an excess mortality rate
Mortality rate
Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in a population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time...
in the population, affecting especially older adults and those who are sick. For some heat waves, however, there has also been observed a decrease in overall mortality during the subsequent weeks after a heat wave. Such short-term forward shift in mortality rate is also referred to as harvesting effect. The subsequent, compensatory reduction in mortality suggests that the heat wave had affected especially those whose health is already so compromised that they "would have died in the short term anyway".