The heat reduced working hours and productivity
A study by the Grantham Institute at the London School of Economics found that during the hottest week of June, Britons worked an average of 30 minutes less every day. Because of this, the country's economy lost approx £1.15 billion (almost $1.5 billion).
Physical workers, particularly in construction and agriculture, were the most affected. Besides, 3.6% of respondents could not go to work at all due to extreme heat.
Deterioration of workers' health became massive
High temperatures negatively affected people's well-being. According to the results of the survey:
87% workers reported fatigue, sleep disturbances, dizziness or rapid heartbeat;
5% were forced to seek medical help;
3% were injured at work or were involved in weather-related accidents.
Experts note that the heat directly affects not only people's health, but also the efficiency of enterprises.
The infrastructure cannot withstand climatic challenges
The June heatwave became one of the strongest in the history of observations in Europe. According to scientists, only in England and Wales it led to approximately 2,700 excess deaths.
In addition, the abnormal temperatures revealed serious problems with the British infrastructure. Among them are insufficient adaptation of public transport, outdated office buildings and complex rules for installing air conditioners in residential buildings, which make it difficult to protect the population from the heat.
Europe risks facing a new wave of inflation
World Weather Attribution researchers warn that extreme heat is significantly accelerating soil drying, making large-scale droughts 80 times more likely.
This creates additional risks for the European economy. Falling yields, problems with shipping due to shallowing rivers and difficulties in generating electricity could lead to a new round of inflation and rising food and energy prices.
It will be recalled that it was previously reported that the June heat wave has already caused losses to the agricultural sector of Europe by more than 2 billion euros, with the biggest losers being grain producers in France and Hungary.
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