Global Warming Makes 25 Million Workers Sick

By Douglas McIntyre  •  August 25, 2025

The World Health Organization and World Meteorological Organization have published a research paper titled “Climate change and workplace heat stress.” The data show that more than 2.4 billion workers face excessive heat globally. This causes 22.85 million workplace injuries annually.

The authors add, “Workplace heat stress can undermine an individual’s ability to remain productive and negatively affect national economies and public health.” This has already been determined in US cities, and particularly Phoenix, where the temperature can be above 100 degrees F through most of the summer months. 

The researchers spotted this in several US industries, which include coal miners, surface miners, gold miners, and workers in agriculture and construction. In a small number of cases, the heat can be deadly. 

America’s Hottest Cities

For every degree about 68 degrees F, worker productivity drops by 2% to 3%. This means in America’s hottest cities, productivity could drop by half. 

According to Bloomberg, “More than a third of people who frequently work in hot temperatures experience physiological heat strain, which is associated with conditions including impaired kidney function, dehydration and neurological dysfunction.” 

Temperatures across the US rise most years, and in much of the nation, there are several days per year when the heat index is about 90 degrees F. The damage to productivity could be severe within several years.

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