ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 8, 2023
As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside. Climate change makes extreme heat more likely and more intense. Farm work is particularly dangerous because workers raise their internal body temperature by moving, lifting, and walking at the same time they’re exposed to high heat and humidity. “It’s not normal to go through these heat waves and, you know, act as if nothing is happening,” said Edgar Franks. Farm workers are 35 times more likely to die of heat exposure than workers in other industries.