The data for "why someone died" is not a firm foundation to be theorizing much on, either.<p>the factor of what temperature one is accustomed to and the behavioral lag in dealing with temperature changes suggests an explaination the heat deaths in cold places for me. You're used to wearing your coat, its spring, you go out fixing fence lines still wearing it, and start getting heat exhaustion / stroke before you realize you should have took it off.<p>Heat kills people easier and quicker than cold. Heat leads them to kill <i>themselves</i> quicker than cold. Perhaps its easier to diagnose the marks of a death by heat as well.