We shouldn’t punish the people who have to work manual labor jobs and the people who can’t afford air-conditioning when we could instead move our schedules the way we do with Daylight Savings and try to do what we can to mitigate deaths due to heatstroke and related illnesses.
If we do this, we’ll need to invest on local, state, and nationwide levels in lighting everything up so it’s as safe as it is during the day to walk around at night.
Until legislation is passed, construction sites and other outdoor work sites should try to move their work hours and provide workers with standing or personal (like mining hats) lights. Local noise ordinances should also be looked at as soon as possible, as that kind of legislation is more likely to pass quicker than a nationwide movement to help those who cannot help but work in the heat brought about by climate change.
Parsons, L.A., Shindell, D., Tigchelaar, M. et al. Increased labor losses and decreased adaptation potential in a warmer world. Nat Commun 12, 7286 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27328-y
