The Mounting Costs of Extreme Heat - The Mounting Costs of Extreme Heat - United States Joint Economic Committee (senate.gov)
....Extreme heat is already having a significant impact on the U.S. economy, particularly in heat-exposed industries like agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing, and transportation. Crop workers die of heat-related illnesses at 20 times the rate of other civilian workers in the United States. Between 1992 and 2016, 285 construction workers died from heat exposure—accounting for more than 30% of heat-related occupational deaths during that period.
Heat is also significantly impacting the working conditions of mail and shipping delivery workers. Demands for heat mitigation technologies (air conditioning, fans, heat shields) were front and center in the recent contentious contract negotiations between UPS and its 340,000 Teamsters union members.
Together, the loss of productivity caused by heat is emerging as one of the biggest economic costs of climate change. A recent study on the effect of temperature on productivity found that, while extreme heat harms agriculture, the impact on productivity in manufacturing and other sectors is larger – in part because they are more labor-intensive. Heat increases absenteeism and reduces work hours and these effects are expected to grow as the world warms. In 2021, data showed that more than 2.5 billion hours of labor in the U.S. agriculture, construction, manufacturing, and service sectors were lost to heat exposure. Another report found that, in 2020, loss of productivity from heat exposure cost the economy $100 billion with annual costs expected to grow to $500 billion by 2050. A recent study showed that as temperatures reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit productivity drops by about 25%, and it falls by 70% as temperatures reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit. |
