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Colder climate--> rather more alcohol drinking.
Warmer climate--> rather less alcohol drinking.
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Do you have any facts on the warmer/colder climate theory?
[/ QUOTE ] Pure speculation, on my part.
I would think, colder climate --> needs more quick fixes for warmth. Drinking should be more
widespread among southern populations but alcohol abuse should be more common in nothern climates.
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IIRC,
alcohol abuse is more widespread in the southern part of Europe than in the northern part.
[/ QUOTE ]Well, I looked it up. It seems that southern Europeans drink more
wine per capita than their northern brethren. But I associate wine with mostly moderate drinking on social or family occasions, and less often with alcohol abuse. While the northerners consume per capita more
beer than southerners :
<font color="red">
WINE </font>
BEER kilos/per year/per capita for 1984-86
W Germany <font color="red">24.9 </font> 195.8
Denmark <font color="red"> 19.2 </font> 127.0
UK <font color="red">10.2 </font>109
Ireland <font color="red"> 3.4 </font> 78.3
Norway <font color="red"> 5.1 </font> 48.2
Sweden <font color="red"> 11.4 </font> 39.5
...
France <font color="red"> 76.5 </font> 38.9
Italy <font color="red">74.4 </font> 21.5
Portugal <font color="red"> 67.7 </font> 37.5
Spain <font color="red">48.5 </font> 56.8
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But we gotta go beyond mere arithmetic averages. Here's what a 2001 World Health Organisation paper had to say:
"The eight countries with the lowest rates of abstainers are northern European countries (Baltic or Nordic, and Ireland and the United Kingdom). These countries are often regarded as having a “wet” drinking culture – that is, consumption of spirits is rather high, and binge drinking is quite common. The majority of women also drink alcohol, perhaps because they work outside the home. Among the countries with the higher percentages of abstainers are those in southern Europe, mainly wine drinking countries. These countries have a “dry” drinking culture, where drinking wine is an integral part of the diet, but drinking alcohol to intoxication is regarded as socially unacceptable."
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Mickey Brausch