Heat Stress in Human Labor and Poverty
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Washington, DC
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In this paper, authors assess the
economic impacts of increased heat stress in humans in
Ghana. As mean global temperatures increase, human capacity
for manual labor is affected, particularly in activities
with sun exposure such as agriculture and construction. This
aspect of climate change is not well-studied, but, as this
report will show, this is an important omission,
particularly in regions where (i) heat and humidity are
already high, (ii) there is high reliance on outdoor, manual
labor, and (iii) a significant portion of the population is
poor. The effects of heat stress and the resulting losses of
labor capacity in such regions can cause large losses of
output and GDP. These losses are likely to occur unevenly,
affecting certain areas and economic sectors more than
others. Some types of poor households (HH) are also likely
to be disproportionately affected, especially those close to
the poverty line if they earn large portions of their income
from their labor and own few productive assets. The authors
present projections of heat stress and labor capacity losses
at high spatial resolution to identify the areas within
Ghana that are most at risk. The authors then assess the
economic impacts for 65 different sectors of the economy.
The authors can therefore identify, with a high degree of
specificity, both the locations and the economic activities
that are in danger of experiencing the largest heat
stress-induced labor capacity losses, and losses of output
and value addition. The poverty impacts of human heat stress
in Ghana are also assessed, disaggregated to identify the HH
types that are more likely to be pushed into poverty.
Palabras clave
HEAT STRESS, WORKING CONDITIONS, ISO7243 LIMITS FOR HUMAN LABOR, LABOR CAPACITY LOSSES, WORK INTENSITY, SUN EXPOSURE, HUMAN LABOR, POVERTY AND LABOR