According to a survey of experts at Union of Concerned Scientists, a heat wave that has been raging across the US poses a risk to earnings of American employees. The analysts measure such risks at $55 billion.
Experts at Union of Concerned Scientists warn that millions of Americans are facing a dilemma over whether to change their area of activity or continue their employment putting their health at stake amid global warming trends. Referring to this research, an adverse effect on human health from regular heat waves could aggravate four times by 2065. In terms of economics, this might erode the overall income of US workers by $55 billion.
The survey reads that $1,900 on average will be missing from paychecks of 7.6 million American workers in the construction and mining sectors by 2065. The reason is extremely hot weather that impairs human ability to work efficiently during normal work hours.
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported that from 1992 until 2017, 815 workers died as a result of overheating. Health of almost 7,000 American employees was seriously hurt. To curb the risks, the government agency issued the guidelines for employers binding them to care about health of their personnel. Meanwhile, there are only two states, California and Washington, where employers follow the official standards to take precautionary measures against overheating.
Experts say that an average worker in Texas is running the risk of being underpaid $3,500 in 2050 due to scorching heat, but the local legislation does not stipulate such regulations. The state authorities are unwilling to impose such standards. As a result, local workers find themselves in a trap. They have to carry on with their toil despite 32-38 degree Celsius.
At present, hundreds of Americans have either died or their health was seriously damaged on the back of the protracted abnormal heat this summer. For instance, in Oregon, the temperature spiked to the record 46.6 degrees Celsius that left a trail of 83 casualties. To prevent such accidents, Congress aims to allocate $100 million to local authorities.
