A surprising new study from Columbia University has found that the assumption that more global warming means less winter-related deaths are dead wrong.

Researchers examined 39 cities in the U.S. and France, taking a close look at mortality data correlated with temperatures to see if a warmer climate meant that people would die less from weather-related events in the winter months, according to a UPI report.

Many had expected the data to show that climate change, despite all the negative things associated with it, would have the silver lining of less winter-related deaths. But the study shows that that’s not the case, said Professor Patrick Kinney, the director of Columbia’s Climate and Health Program and the author of the report.

Specifically, Kinney and his team look at 36 U.S. cities and three French cities between 1971 and 2007, and found that those that had warm winters actually had similar rates to those that had colder winters, with very little correlation between deaths and temperature levels.

Of course, these cities have very different urban designs, socio-cultural backgrounds, and demography, which could certainly play into the results.

As a result, scientists may need to consider other reasons for the increase in deaths during the winter, and that there may primarily be non-temperature-related reasons for it. For example, people may spend less time moving around, the humidity in the air drops, and there’s more spread of deadly viruses like the flu.

The fact that people move around less results in a less-healthy cardiovascular system, and a less-healthy individual overall, resulting in weight gain and other factors that could lead to death.