Health Or A Paycheck: New Report Shows How Extreme Heat May Hurt Farmworkers

People who work outside increasingly risk their income, illness and even death as climate change ramps up extreme heat.

That’s according to a first-of-its-kind study from the Union of Concerned Scientists, titled “Too Hot To Work.” The study focused on workers who spend some or all of their work time outside, including construction workers, emergency responders and landscapers.

In the Midwest, farmworkers comprise a large portion of the outdoor workforce.

“Farmworkers are one of the groups that's most vulnerable to heat-related illness and exposure,” says Rachel Licker, a senior climate scientist, who helped compile the report.

Agricultural workers are up to 30 times more likely to die as a result of exposure to extreme heat than the general workforce, she says. That’s because many can’t afford to miss a paycheck.