More “hottest day evers” mean changing the way we work
More “hottest day evers” mean changing the way we work
If you look at a map that tracks temperatures, you’ll see that a fair amount of the world is red right now, which is to say, hot. And this week, on July 4th, the world may have experienced its highest average temperature since we started keeping track. That’s according to a visualization of federal data by the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine.
Heat affects our health, our morale and our work. As temperatures become more extreme, productivity and pay can take a hit. That means workers and employers have to adapt.
That includes contractor Prince Xavier Biabo, who’s currently doing a gut renovation of an old townhouse in Baltimore. In order to stay hydrated in 90-degree weather, he said he drinks 2 gallons of water and eats about 20 slices of watermelon during his workday.
“Then when I get home, I eat probably 10 more,” laughed Biabo.
You can smell the earth inside the townhouse Biabo’s renovating. They’re working in the shade on the ground floor, but there’s no air conditioning or fan, and it’s still really warm. When it gets superhot — say, triple digits — Biabo said he feels himself slowing down.
“It doesn’t matter how much water you drink. You will feel tired,” Biabo said.
That fatigue is common in high temperatures.
“You get tired more easily, you’re less inclined to exert yourself, and that translates into meaningful reductions in productivity,” said Patrick Behrer, who studies adaptation to high heat as an economist at the World Bank.
Behrer said in years where the annual average temperature is two degrees higher, overall economic output falls by around 2%, as workers slow down or need to stay home.
There are adaptations employers can make, such as requiring breaks and hydrating.
In Omaha, mail carrier David Fichter wore a sun hat as he walked between houses.
“You definitely want to take your time,” Fichter said. “So it does take a little longer. But it’s more important to be safe about it.”
Another adaptation? Flipping the hours people are working, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to, say, 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. That’s happening with some construction and road workers in the American South.
“Part of that is because they’re trying to minimize the negative effects of construction on traffic. But a big part of that is actually trying to keep the workers out of really high temperatures,” Behrer said.
Factory workers are affected too. Some workplace adaptations could be as simple as painting a building white or adding more trees around it, said Laura Kent, public affairs and policy adviser at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. “Things that we might do to our homes as well,” Kent said.
Also, in the long term, we might simply see more manufacturing in cooler places.
“You may just choose to move that facility from Texas to Minnesota, say,” Behrer said.
Back in Maryland, Prince Xavier Biabo said he is doing his best to take care of himself so he can handle the changing weather.
“It might be a little bit hotter,” Biabo said. “But when you do construction, you’ve got to deal with it.”
Because we’re likely to see more “hottest days ever” in the future.
Correction (July 5, 2023): In a previous version of this story, David Fichter’s last name was misspelled on second reference.
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