Heat stress too hot to handle

Washington - Earth's increasingly hot, wet climate has cut the amount of work people can do in the worst heat by about 10 percent in the past six decades, and that loss in labour capacity could double by mid-century, US government scientists reported on Sunday.


File photo: It said the Earth was set for further warming and more heatwaves, floods, droughts and rising sea levels as greenhouse gases built up in the atmosphere. Credit: REUTERS


Their findings were stark: “We project that heat stress-related labor capacity losses will double globally by 2050 with a warming climate,” said lead author John Dunne of NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton.



Labor capacity would be all but eliminated in the lower Mississippi Valley and most of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains would be exposed to heat stress “beyond anything experienced in the world today,” he said.



“This planet will start experiencing heat stress that's unlike anything experienced today,” said Ronald Stouffer, a co-author of the study.

The only way to retain labor capacity, Dunne said, is to limit global warming to less than 5 degrees F (3 degrees C).

Global average temperature has risen by about 1.2 degrees F (0.7 degree C) compared to pre-industrial times. It is likely to rise another 1.8 degrees F (1 degree C) by mid-century, Dunne said.

The way some workers already adapt to heat stress - taking a siesta during the hottest hours of the day, working outdoor jobs like construction at night when temperatures drop or ceasing work entirely during periods of peak heat and humidity - could migrate to places where heat stress is increasing.




“It's very regionally dependent and highly determined by adaptation,” Dunne said. - Reuters

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