South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Study: Climate change will make heat even deadlier for outdoor workers
Climate change is expected to quadruple outdoor workers’ exposure to dangerous heat across the county from now through 2065, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.
That could jeopardize the health of millions of workers and put more than $55 billion of their earnings at risk annually if global warming emissions continue without additional protections, scientists say in the report released Tuesday.
The last seven years have been the hottest yet. And climate change — resulting in increased heat and rising sea levels — is getting worse. Over the next few decades, the roughly 32 million outdoor workers in the U.S. may have to choose between their jobs and their health.
“Climate change is a problem here and now,” said report author Kristina Dahl, a senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “This is not something that we can wait to deal with until our children are grown or their children are grown.”
In an average year, heat kills more people nationwide than other weather disasters such as flooding or hurricanes, said Dahl. Outdoor workers are on the frontlines of those dangers and are up to 35 times more likely to die from heat-related causes than the general public.
Currently, there are about five days a year that are too hot to work outdoors, according to calculations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From now through midcentury, the study says, that could rise to 33.
Florida’s about 2 million outdoor workers — more than 20% of the state’s workforce — will face the consequences of increased temperatures, according to the study. It projects extreme heat will put nearly $8.4 billion of the state’s outdoor workers’ total annual earnings at risk. Each worker risks losing an average of about $3,700 a year.
Florida is especially vulnerable because its high humidity sends feels-like temperatures soaring, said Clyde Fraisse, a professor of agrometeorology at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. When the heat index rises, it becomes more difficult for workers to cool down.
“We need to start looking at forecasting, for instance — heat-related or heat indices especially — when you’re going to schedule outside work,” Fraisse said.
He worked on a recent study that examined heat-related deaths in Florida from 2010-20. At least 215 people died, and 36 were working outdoors at the time.
They harvest or plant fruit in fields, he said. Much of that work is done by hand, not machine, for crops like strawberries. While the Pacific Northwest swelters under heat waves this summer, workers there have started to harvest cherries and blueberries earlier, Fraisse said, starting as early as 4 a.m. to work during cooler hours.
When more frequent heatwaves hit, he said companies and farmers should explore new ways to keep workers safe. Businesses can place shade above employees and make sure to encourage hydration. Perhaps future planting seasons and harvest picking hours could be shifted to avoid peak heat.
Federal guidelines for outdoor working conditions are only recommendations, however, so workers remain largely unprotected on extremely hot days. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration suggests employers enforce safety precautions when the heat index tops 90 degrees. California and Washington are the only states that have permanent safety standards in place.
The burden of extreme heat disproportionately falls on workers of color. More than 40% of outdoor workers nationwide identify as African American, Black, Hispanic or Latino, according to the study. That group alone risks losing an estimated $23.5 billion in annual earnings by midcentury with no reduction in global warming emissions.
Migrant and undocumented workers may also face greater barriers to safety protections due to the possibility of deportation, which may stop them from speaking out against companies or seeking medical help.
‘‘The burden of temperatures rising due to global warming takes a higher toll in Latinx communities,” said María Revelles, director of Chispa Florida, an environmental justice advocacy group.
In addition to limiting workloads and adjusting hours, reducing global warming emissions would give outdoor workers another needed layer of protection by reducing the number of days they must work under extreme heat, according to the report’s authors.
The report urges local and national elected officials to invest in and implement solutions to curb rising temperatures and calls on Congress to adopt the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act of 2021.
The bill is named after a California farmworker who died in 2014 from heatstroke after picking grapes for 10 hours in triple-digit temperatures. Instead of getting medical help for the 53-year-old, his employer told his son to drive him home. The bill calls on the federal government to mandate that businesses provide adequate hydration, shade and breaks to employees.
Tampa Bay Times staff writer Zack Sampson contributed to this report. The Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg provides partial funding for Times stories on equity. It does not select story topics and is not involved in the reporting or editing. This story was produced in partnership with the Florida Climate Reporting Network, a multi-newsroom initiative founded by the Miami Herald, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, The Palm Beach Post, the Orlando Sentinel, WLRN Public Media and the Tampa Bay Times.