Too hot to work: Climate change could make $2 trillion dent in world economy by 2030

JAKARTA, July 19 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Rising temperatures caused by climate change may cost the world economy over $2 trillion in lost productivity by 2030 as hot weather makes it unbearable to work in some parts of the world, according to U.N. research published on Tuesday.

It showed that in Southeast Asia alone, up to 20 percent of annual work hours may already be lost in jobs with exposure to extreme heat with the figures set to double by 2050 as the effects of climate change deepen.

Across the globe, 43 countries will see a fall in their gross domestic product (GDP) due to reduced productivity, the majority of them in Asia including Indonesia, Malaysia, China, India and Bangladesh, researcher Tord Kjellstrom said.

Indonesia and Thailand could see their GDP reduced by 6 percent in 2030, while in China GDP could be reduced by 0.8 percent and in India by 3.2 percent.

"Current climate conditions in tropical and subtropical parts of the world are already so hot during the hot seasons that occupational health effects occur and work capacity for many people is affected," said Kjellstrom, a director at the New Zealand-based Health and Environment International Trust.

He said the increasing need for rest "is likely to become a significant problem" as climate change makes the hottest days hotter and leads to longer periods of excessively hot days.

Kjellstrom authored one of six papers on the impact of climate change on health that were put together by the United Nations University's International Institute for Global Health in Kuala Lumpur and published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health.

Kjellstrom warned that the lowest-paid workers - those in heavy labour, agricultural and manufacturing - were most at risk of exposure to extreme heat.

Indonesia and Thailand could see their GDP reduced by 6 percent in 2030, while in China GDP could be reduced by 0.8 percent and in India by 3.2 percent.

Lord Foul wrote:pfffft...they will just have to work during the night instead...lazy buggers

clipped from Ben's article >
Kjellstrom authored one of six papers on the impact of climate change on health that were put together by the United Nations University's International Institute for Global Health in Kuala Lumpur and published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health.

Kjellstrom warned that the lowest-paid workers - those in heavy labour, agricultural and manufacturing - were most at risk of exposure to extreme heat.

Number of hungry people in the world
http://www.worldhunger.org/2015-world-hunger-and-poverty-facts-and-statistics/

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 795 million people of the 7.3 billion people in the world, or one in nine, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2014-2016. Almost all the hungry people, 780 million, live in developing countries, representing 12.9 percent, or one in eight, of the population of developing counties. There are 11 million people undernourished in developed countries (FAO 2014; for individual country estimates, see Annex 1. For other valuable sources, especially if interested in particular countries or regions, see IFPRI 2015 and Rosen 2014).

Undernourishment around the world, 1990-2 to 2012-4

Number of undernourished and prevalence (%) of undernourishment

	1990-2 No.	1990-2 %	2014-6 No.	2014-6 %
World	1,010.6	18.6	794.6	10.9
Developed regions	20.0	<5	14.7	<5
Developing regions	990.7	23.3	779.9	12.9
Africa	181.7	27.6	232.5	20.0
Sub-Saharan Africa	175.7	33.2	220.0	23.2
Asia	741.9	23.6	511.7	12.1
Eastern Asia	295.4	23.2	145.1	9.6
South-Eastern Asia	137.5	30.6	60.5	9.6
Southern Asia	291.2	23.9	281.4	15.7
Latin America & Carib.	66.1	14.7	34.3	5.5
Oceana	1.0	15.7	1.4	14.2

This is rapidly building and the regions that have always been in 'NEED' are getting pounded by 'Climate Changes' so furious and rapidly changing - the conditions aren't what they've been used to living under; the extremes are just to prolonged and severe!

Ben Reilly wrote:

Lord Foul wrote:pfffft...they will just have to work during the night instead...lazy buggers

That's a lot of money to pay for artificial light for outdoor labor, and a lot to pay on tiger lookouts ...

Lord Foul wrote:

Ben Reilly wrote:

That's a lot of money to pay for artificial light for outdoor labor, and a lot to pay on tiger lookouts ...

solar cells by day...battery power by night  as for tiger lookouts...why?? plenty more workers where THEY came from

Burrumbuttock Hay Runners: Truck drivers deliver drought relief to western Queensland

By Ash Moore, Saturday April 2, 2016 - 16:27 EDT
Hope and hay have again arrived in the small town of Ilfracombe in western Queensland thanks to volunteer truck drivers from across Australia.

The Burrumbuttock Hay Runners smashed their own record hay run set in January, by this time bringing in 258 trucks pulling 406 trailers, carrying nearly 14,000 bales of hay, which will provide relief to drought-stricken graziers. This delivery of hay is valued at $6 million.

Veteran hay runner Patrick Burke, from Leeton in south-west New South Wales, said he would carry on bringing hay to help those battling the drought as long as it was needed.  "I've been involved in all [11] of the runs," Mr Burke said. "I saw it on Facebook before the very first run more than two years ago and I just felt that I wanted to get involved in some way. "I don't [own] a truck or a trailer or any hay but so far I've been able to manage to get a truck and trailer and some hay every time."
Mr Burke said people were lining the streets to wave the massive convoy of trucks through every town between Burrumbuttock in southern NSW and Ilfracombe.
"I always say to people you can try and describe it as much as you like but you've got to actually experience it to really understand what these hay runs are all about," Mr Burke said. "Just the whole community spirit from start to finish is just amazing."
New truck drivers getting on board
It was the first hay run for Queensland truck driver Peter Lewis, but he said he had been keen to get involved with the Burrumbuttock Hay Runners for some time. "I'd heard of them before but it just made it very hard for us to get involved because most of the hay comes from Victoria or the Riverina," Mr Lewis said. "We were able to bring local hay from Proserpine straight to Ilfracombe this time and it made it a lot better for us to join the convoy at Barcaldine."
Mr Lewis said the effort of truck drivers from all over Australia deserved international attention.  "I think it definitely shows the Aussie spirit and I think it will be all over the world," he said. "This effort that the Burrumbuttock Hay Runners do is becoming a world-recognised hay run."
Relief welcomed in drought-stricken west
Grazier Clayton Dolgner, from Jundah south-west of Longreach, has been feeding his stock for the last four years and was down to his last 200 breeder cattle. Mr Dolgner said with the attention the volunteer truck drivers were bringing to the drought, it seemed the message was finally reaching the city.
"A lot of people in cities don't realise what we do out here... and how we get by," he said. "Most people have got to come to see it to believe it and that's what people are doing now and that's what's happened. "It's an amazing effort these blokes have put on. It's just unreal it is - I can't describe it."
No plans to stop
Burrumbuttock Hay Runners founder Brendan Farrell said there were no plans to stop delivering hay until it rained and the drought finally broke.
Mr Farrell said the next destination would be to Thargomindah in remote south-west Queensland. "They're in drought [and] I don't think half of Australia knows where it is [so]we'll put them on the map," Mr Farrell said. "We'll do Thargomindah and then back into New South Wales and then back into Queensland, we'll see how it goes."
http://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/burrumbuttock-hay-runners-truck-drivers-deliver-drought-relief-to-western-queensland/482004

Just really freaking amazing undertaking and dedication that started from a small group in 2014 to this mammoth undertaking for aid for so many.

Raggamuffin wrote:I certainly found it too hot to work lately. They said it was going to cool down, but it hasn't!