5 ms·

Are there any such studies that have investigated, how heat influences the overall human productivity? Obviously, physical work becomes harder and correspondin

by M0r13n 4y ago

Are there any such studies that have investigated, how heat influences the overall human productivity? Obviously, physical work becomes harder and correspondingly less productive during heat. But I also notice a considerable degradation of mental work. Personally, I notice the first symptoms at around 25 degrees. From there on my overall mental performance decreases with every degree. I have never quantified this. So this is pure anecdotal evidence. But I am pretty sure, that more heat correlates with less overall performance and thus leads to a reduction of the GDP.

shinryuu 4y ago
I can confirm the same anecdotal evidence. I've had around 30 degrees in my apartment from time to time and my mental faculties most definitely decreases at that time. I tend to make more errors, and not think as clearly.
can16358p 4y ago
Same here. My ability to think clearly drastically declines at around 24-25 degrees, to becoming virtually zero in around 29-30 degrees. Assuming brain is an organ that consumes so much energy, maybe it's about that. Even if it's not that I'm sure that there's a correlation.
- yreg 4y ago
  Isn't it because it's difficult to focus when you are uncomfortable? My mental work performance also decreases when my head hurts or when my neighbours are drilling into the walls.
  - can16358p 4y ago
    Might be. I don't know the exact mechanism, but it might simply be like as you said: heat -> intolerance -> umcomfortable -> reduced performance.
  - zuminator 4y ago
    It seems to me that the very reason we're uncomfortable is because we have evolved a warning system deterring us from overexerting ourselves in the heat. You can literally run some animals to death because of their relative inefficiency at dumping waste heat. Our homeostatic systems are generally superior but will also fail at some point.
josalhor 4y ago
Yes, there is evidence that is the case[0]. Part of the abstract: "We provide the first evidence that cumulative heat exposure inhibits cognitive skill development and that school air conditioning can mitigate this effect. Student fixed effects models using 10 million PSAT-takers show that hotter school days in the year prior to the test reduce learning, with extreme heat being particularly damaging and larger effects for low income and minority students. (...) Without air conditioning, each 1°F increase in school year temperature reduces the amount learned that year by one percent. " [0]: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/joshuagoodman/files/w24639.pdf https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/joshuagoodman/files/w24639...
- causi 4y ago
  each 1°F increase in school year temperature reduces the amount learned that year by one percent That's a suspiciously tidy and headline-friendly ratio.
  - oneoff786 4y ago
    Nah, it’s almost certainly just a weak linear regression fit. As a high level description for the range of temps they saw it’s probably fine.
bamboozled 4y ago
Was thinking the same thing today, super hot, I couldn't really think, had a ridiculous headache, started to calm down as the sun went down and temps cooled off. Not to mention the extra heat.
zhdc1 4y ago
> I have never quantified this. So this is pure anecdotal evidence. But I am pretty sure, that more heat correlates with less overall performance and thus leads to a reduction of the GDP. Lee Kuan Yew considered air conditioning to be one of the most important inventions in history (and the most important invention for Singapore) for this reason. Stable temperatures make it much, much easier for people to work consistently. The gains from being able to work from the morning into the mid-late afternoon are under-appreciated and accumulate relatively quickly.
- FollowingTheDao 4y ago
  But the costs, never look at the costs...always externalities...
- M0r13n 4y ago
  That’s definitely what I personally experienced.
- jelliclesfarm 4y ago
  That’s because humidity in Singapore is so thick that you can cut it with a knife and it is a small island built on reclaimed land. What works for a 5 something million populated island won’t work for 1.4 billion strong India. Cars and air conditioners are luxuries of sparsely populated states and can’t be globally adopted. We are measuring quality of life with wealth and not living conditions. The tragedy of india is that they are adopting first world criteria as a benchmark. Yet, Singapore’s birth replacement rate is most dire of all the countries in the world. I feel there is something to unpack here but I am not sure I was able to articulate my point correctly. Did I make any sense or should I try again by rephrasing? Thoughts?
Aeolun 4y ago
Certainly works like that for me. 21-22 degrees celcius seems to be the optimum working (and sleeping) temperature for me. Below 18 degrees my hands start to get too cold to type, above 22 and I cannot think any more (thoughts slow down until my brain is muddy).
jjp 4y ago
Yes, plenty of research that analyzes the impact of your environment (not just temperature) on productivity. I read an earlier editiion of -https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279190533_Creating_the_Productive_Workplace https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279190533_Creating_... it was fascinating.
ElectronShak 4y ago
I guess so, but maybe the body and brain adapts too, depending on where you live. Average annual temperature where I live is 26 degrees C, could be lower indoors.
defrost 4y ago
Going Troppo | Mango Madness - aka the effects of saturation humidity and tempretures ranging from 32C - 40C during Australia's northen monsoon seasons. It's a studied thing, and people write papers anticipating how far it can go before it shuts down any daytime activiy. eg: About the weather in the Kimberley (readable overview) https://kimberley-australia.com/about-the-kimberley/weather-in-the-kimberley/ https://kimberley-australia.com/about-the-kimberley/weather-... Heat, health, and humidity in Australia's monsoon tropics: a critical review of the problematization of ‘heat’ in a changing climate https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wcc.468 https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wcc.4...
soneca 4y ago
How do you jump from ”pure anecdotal evidence” to ”reduction of the GDP”? This just seems too close to racist theories about why the north hemisphere is richer than the south. A lot of people confirming with anecdotes in the comments. Consider that any drastic temperature changes affect humans. Until they adapt. So I bet all this confirming anecdotes are from people used to lower temperatures facing, occasionally, higher temperatures. The opposite happens as well. When you live in places where the winter is almost never lower than 20 degree Celsius, when you get to 10 degrees, people only worry are about supporting the new low temperature. Their focus on surviving the new temperature is more important than any other thing. I am certain get a lot of anecdotes that low temperatures diminish their cognitive skills and productivity.
- f6v 4y ago
  > This just seems too close to racist theories about why the north hemisphere is richer than the south. First, you can’t deny that different counties have different economy structure. And before you put a racist label on me, remember, that correlation is not causation. Second, I bet that office workers in Vietnam have a decent air conditioning. Their northern hemisphere counterparts might not. Germany is a prime example. I have flashbacks of working in a hot sauna of an office in Berlin.
- t6jvcereio 4y ago
  > This just seems too close to racist theories about why the north hemisphere is richer than the south. Not sure if this is satire, but I'll bite. Rascist is saying "these people are worse because of their intrinsic properties". Saying "these people are worse because of the circumstances they happen to be born into" is the opposite of racist, surely?
pid-1 4y ago
You're likely less productive due being uncomfortable and not due heat itself. In many places, due humidity, architectures, trees, dressing culture etc... 27-30 degrees is super comfortable. Anecdotally, I'm completely unprepared for anything lower than 22 degrees, it makes my life absolutely miserable.
- 2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
  I've got it the other way around. I can run around with a pair of jeans, a tshirt and a hoodie when it's -20C outside, but anything over +20C makes me insanely uncomfortable. As expected per your hypothesis, my productivity drops like a rock during summer.
  - M0r13n 4y ago
    Same for me! I even thought of moving to Sweden or Norway during summer. Even tough I am already living at the very north of Germany.
- ClumsyPilot 4y ago
  > uncomfortable and not due heat itself well if someone is cutting your leg while you are typing, you are less productive due to being uncomfortable, not due to missing a leg as you dont need a leg to type. since evntually the heat kills you, it stands to reason that the condition is not only 'dead' and 'alive', but also includes 'barely surviving', and that condition is not productive.
- M0r13n 4y ago
  > You're likely less productive due being uncomfortable and not due heat itself. If the heat makes me feel uncomfortable, thus making me less productive, it is still the heat that causes the decline of productivity.
girvo 4y ago
I wonder how common that is. I only find that once it gets to about 30 degrees, but I live in south east Queensland and so I’m somewhat acclimated to higher every day temperatures
yrgulation 4y ago
Anecdotally, if its too hot outside i struggle to sleep and i can barely function during the day. Unless my brain is properly ventilated my productivity simply dives.
voisin 4y ago
> Personally, I notice the first symptoms at around 25 degrees. I was like this for probably 20 years. I had resigned myself to the notion that this was an immutable fact. During COVID, I stayed for 6 months somewhere with a gym and sauna. I began doing cardio for 1 - 1.5 hours per day and 45 minutes in the sauna. I am shocked at how this year, with already intense heat, how little the temperatures affect me. 100% anecdata, and I don’t know if it is the cardio or the sauna, but it has totally changed my enjoyment of this season.
- elevaet 4y ago
  It's both cardio and sauna. The body adapts to these stimuli with greater heat adaptation, it's well studied in sports physiology. It works even better when cardio is combined with heat: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24444197/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24444197/
- M0r13n 4y ago
  If things are getting hot here, this could be a good tip. For me this increased tolerance to heat could be worth the effort if training in a Sauna.
nottorp 4y ago
Besides the extremes where the body simply can't take it any more, it also depends on what you're used to. I'm typing this with the a/c set to 26 degrees. But I'm in my home office and definitely not wearing a suit and tie. I feel just fine(tm). Your mileage is obviously different. Edit: there's also the cultural thing of setting the a/c in offices to 18 C because that's where a man in a 3 piece suit would feel comfortable. Just drop the 3 piece suit if you're still wearing it :)
- M0r13n 4y ago
  I am quite grateful, that I can show up at work in whatever clothes I like. A suit during summer would be so stressful.
wsc981 4y ago
I work fine in warm weather. Since I live in Thailand I often work in temperatures of around 30 degrees. In my home office I only use a fan. Same as someone else in this thread: I get very unproductive when it's too cold. If my fingers feel cold, it just becomes much less pleasant to use they keyboard. It's one of the reasons why I emigrated from a Northern European country to Thailand.
slategruen 4y ago
Us in the tropical region, we are usually fine around the low-30s and even higher as long as there's fans. Most of the public schools in our country have ceiling fans and large open windows so that air could circulate better. I blame Westerners' addiction to air-conditioning for their low tolerance in temperature (which is by the way, further fueling the climate crisis).
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- deadbunny 4y ago
  The problem is that western buildings for the most part are not designed for those temperatures in mind, we were more concerned with keeping heat in historically.
- Dudeman112 4y ago
  >I blame Westerners' addiction to air-conditioning for their low tolerance in temperature Western Europeans at least either have decent tolerance to high temperature, or have low tolerance due to the weather itself being colder Sauce: spent the first 25 years of my life in a tropical country, then moved to north-ish of England. My tolerance to high temperatures got way, way lower and the only place I've been with AC were a couple of car rides Air conditioning was far more common back home
- gyaru 4y ago
  > Westerners' addiction to air-conditioning for their low tolerance You're aware that barely anyone in Europe even own AC-units?
  - sph 4y ago
    Europe is big and spans many latitudes. Not many AC units here in UK, they're quite common in Italy.
  - 988747 4y ago
    But we spent most of our days in offices with AC.
kkfx 4y ago
I'm much more concerned about nature: we can, at least in western countries for middle-class and above, afford aircon and heating systems, but nature can't. We have started experimenting in artificial environments like "vertical farms" etc but overall results are not good on scale. Long story short: we can't survive anyway if nature can't with us.
puranjay 4y ago
my productivity craters in the summers because I'm forced to be indoors all day in air conditioning. No random walks around just to clear my head and break the monotony.
kolinko 4y ago
I’m the same. If the temperature at home is over 23-25 deg during day and night my brain shuts down. I feel kind of fine, but I’m unable to do anything that requires creative or technical thought. (with around 50-60% humidity)
Gimpei 4y ago
There's a ton of research on the effects of air conditioning on learning exploiting (purportedly) pseudo-random introduction of air conditioning to schools. Here's one: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Fpol.20180612 https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Fpol.20180612
sph 4y ago
Human productivity peaks in a narrow range between not-shivering and not-sweating. With the exact same preconditions (clothing, etc.) you'll find it's a 10 degree window, if not less.
logifail 4y ago
> I also notice a considerable degradation of mental work Austria's Federal Statistical Office reported this week[0] that there is a significant increase in the number of road traffic accidents in Austria on days with a top temperature of 30°C or above. They report a corresponding increase of the proportion of road accidents caused by "distraction" or "carelessness" on these hot days. [0] https://www.diepresse.com/6157876/ein-viertel-mehr-verkehrsunfaelle-an-hitzetagen-in-oesterreich https://www.diepresse.com/6157876/ein-viertel-mehr-verkehrsu...
KVFinn 4y ago
>Obviously, physical work becomes harder and correspondingly less productive during heat. But I also notice a considerable degradation of mental work. Personally, I notice the first symptoms at around 25 degrees. I can manage being hot while awake, as long as I can sleep in the cold. If I'm hot while sleeping it's almost like I never slept at all.
cs137 4y ago
Yes. Agricultural collapse, rather than heatstroke, is what'll start killing people if we see WBTs in the low 30s. The tropics don't usually get as hot as the worst days in the midlatitude zones; what defines the tropical zone is temperature consistency. This means that many species won't adapt to serious climate change if it happens so rapidly, but it also means we can expect labor productivity to drop by 50% or more, because if tropical locations start posting 31-32 WBTs, they won't be doing it once per year (as you see on the hottest days in the midlatitudes) but hundreds of days per year. If corporate workers become 50% less productive, that just means fewer passive-aggressive emails get sent; but if global farm labor becomes 50% less productive, we're in a shitload of trouble.
Buttons840 4y ago
I've had a similar thought related to CO2. The human race will become collectively dumber as CO2 levels rise. It might take a while for CO2 levels to double or quadruple, but high indoor CO2 levels make people perform worse, and so increasing the base CO2 level will make everyone dumber. And as you say, the heat won't help either. This is an angle I've taken with people who don't believe human activity increases temperatures. A small intelligence hit applied to literally every single human is a big thing. And it's hard for people to deny we're increasing CO2 levels.
dredmorbius 4y ago
A quick web search suggests yes.[1] The Impact of Different Environmental Conditions on Cognitive Function: A Focused Review Lee Taylor, Samuel L. Watkins, Hannah Marshall, Ben J. Dascombe, and Josh Foster Front Physiol. 2015; 6: 372. Published online 2016 Jan 6. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2015.00372 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4701920/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4701920/ Abstract: Cognitive function defines performance in objective tasks that require conscious mental effort. Extreme environments, namely heat, hypoxia, and cold can all alter human cognitive function due to a variety of psychological and/or biological processes. The aims of this Focused Review were to discuss; (1) the current state of knowledge on the effects of heat, hypoxic and cold stress on cognitive function, (2) the potential mechanisms underpinning these alterations, and (3) plausible interventions that may maintain cognitive function upon exposure to each of these environmental stressors. The available evidence suggests that the effects of heat, hypoxia, and cold stress on cognitive function are both task and severity dependent. Complex tasks are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat stress, whereas both simple and complex task performance appear to be vulnerable at even at moderate altitudes. Cold stress also appears to negatively impact both simple and complex task performance, however, the research in this area is sparse in comparison to heat and hypoxia. In summary, this focused review provides updated knowledge regarding the effects of extreme environmental stressors on cognitive function and their biological underpinnings. Tyrosine supplementation may help individuals maintain cognitive function in very hot, hypoxic, and/or cold conditions. However, more research is needed to clarify these and other postulated interventions. ________________________________ Notes: 1. Search: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ambient+temperature+effects+cognitive+function&t=ffab&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ambient+temperature+effects+cognit... A Google Scholar search of the same terms produces over 283,000 results and might be worth exploring as well: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=ambient%20temperature%20effects%20cognitive%20function&btnG=Search&as_sdt=800000000001&as_sdtp=on https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=ambient%20temperature%2...

by M0r13n 4y ago

shinryuu 4y ago

I can confirm the same anecdotal evidence. I've had around 30 degrees in my apartment from time to time and my mental faculties most definitely decreases at that time. I tend to make more errors, and not think as clearly.

can16358p 4y ago

Same here. My ability to think clearly drastically declines at around 24-25 degrees, to becoming virtually zero in around 29-30 degrees. Assuming brain is an organ that consumes so much energy, maybe it's about that. Even if it's not that I'm sure that there's a correlation.

yreg 4y ago
Isn't it because it's difficult to focus when you are uncomfortable? My mental work performance also decreases when my head hurts or when my neighbours are drilling into the walls.
- can16358p 4y ago
  Might be. I don't know the exact mechanism, but it might simply be like as you said: heat -> intolerance -> umcomfortable -> reduced performance.
- zuminator 4y ago
  It seems to me that the very reason we're uncomfortable is because we have evolved a warning system deterring us from overexerting ourselves in the heat. You can literally run some animals to death because of their relative inefficiency at dumping waste heat. Our homeostatic systems are generally superior but will also fail at some point.

josalhor 4y ago

Yes, there is evidence that is the case[0]. Part of the abstract: "We provide the first evidence that cumulative heat exposure inhibits cognitive skill development and that school air conditioning can mitigate this effect. Student fixed effects models using 10 million PSAT-takers show that hotter school days in the year prior to the test reduce learning, with extreme heat being particularly damaging and larger effects for low income and minority students. (...) Without air conditioning, each 1°F increase in school year temperature reduces the amount learned that year by one percent. " [0]: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/joshuagoodman/files/w24639.pdf https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/joshuagoodman/files/w24639...

causi 4y ago
each 1°F increase in school year temperature reduces the amount learned that year by one percent That's a suspiciously tidy and headline-friendly ratio.
- oneoff786 4y ago
  Nah, it’s almost certainly just a weak linear regression fit. As a high level description for the range of temps they saw it’s probably fine.

bamboozled 4y ago

Was thinking the same thing today, super hot, I couldn't really think, had a ridiculous headache, started to calm down as the sun went down and temps cooled off. Not to mention the extra heat.

zhdc1 4y ago

> I have never quantified this. So this is pure anecdotal evidence. But I am pretty sure, that more heat correlates with less overall performance and thus leads to a reduction of the GDP. Lee Kuan Yew considered air conditioning to be one of the most important inventions in history (and the most important invention for Singapore) for this reason. Stable temperatures make it much, much easier for people to work consistently. The gains from being able to work from the morning into the mid-late afternoon are under-appreciated and accumulate relatively quickly.

FollowingTheDao 4y ago
But the costs, never look at the costs...always externalities...
M0r13n 4y ago
That’s definitely what I personally experienced.
jelliclesfarm 4y ago
That’s because humidity in Singapore is so thick that you can cut it with a knife and it is a small island built on reclaimed land. What works for a 5 something million populated island won’t work for 1.4 billion strong India. Cars and air conditioners are luxuries of sparsely populated states and can’t be globally adopted. We are measuring quality of life with wealth and not living conditions. The tragedy of india is that they are adopting first world criteria as a benchmark. Yet, Singapore’s birth replacement rate is most dire of all the countries in the world. I feel there is something to unpack here but I am not sure I was able to articulate my point correctly. Did I make any sense or should I try again by rephrasing? Thoughts?

Aeolun 4y ago

Certainly works like that for me. 21-22 degrees celcius seems to be the optimum working (and sleeping) temperature for me. Below 18 degrees my hands start to get too cold to type, above 22 and I cannot think any more (thoughts slow down until my brain is muddy).

jjp 4y ago

Yes, plenty of research that analyzes the impact of your environment (not just temperature) on productivity. I read an earlier editiion of -https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279190533_Creating_the_Productive_Workplace https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279190533_Creating_... it was fascinating.

ElectronShak 4y ago

I guess so, but maybe the body and brain adapts too, depending on where you live. Average annual temperature where I live is 26 degrees C, could be lower indoors.

defrost 4y ago

Going Troppo | Mango Madness - aka the effects of saturation humidity and tempretures ranging from 32C - 40C during Australia's northen monsoon seasons. It's a studied thing, and people write papers anticipating how far it can go before it shuts down any daytime activiy. eg: About the weather in the Kimberley (readable overview) https://kimberley-australia.com/about-the-kimberley/weather-in-the-kimberley/ https://kimberley-australia.com/about-the-kimberley/weather-... Heat, health, and humidity in Australia's monsoon tropics: a critical review of the problematization of ‘heat’ in a changing climate https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wcc.468 https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wcc.4...

soneca 4y ago

How do you jump from ”pure anecdotal evidence” to ”reduction of the GDP”? This just seems too close to racist theories about why the north hemisphere is richer than the south. A lot of people confirming with anecdotes in the comments. Consider that any drastic temperature changes affect humans. Until they adapt. So I bet all this confirming anecdotes are from people used to lower temperatures facing, occasionally, higher temperatures. The opposite happens as well. When you live in places where the winter is almost never lower than 20 degree Celsius, when you get to 10 degrees, people only worry are about supporting the new low temperature. Their focus on surviving the new temperature is more important than any other thing. I am certain get a lot of anecdotes that low temperatures diminish their cognitive skills and productivity.

f6v 4y ago
> This just seems too close to racist theories about why the north hemisphere is richer than the south. First, you can’t deny that different counties have different economy structure. And before you put a racist label on me, remember, that correlation is not causation. Second, I bet that office workers in Vietnam have a decent air conditioning. Their northern hemisphere counterparts might not. Germany is a prime example. I have flashbacks of working in a hot sauna of an office in Berlin.
t6jvcereio 4y ago
> This just seems too close to racist theories about why the north hemisphere is richer than the south. Not sure if this is satire, but I'll bite. Rascist is saying "these people are worse because of their intrinsic properties". Saying "these people are worse because of the circumstances they happen to be born into" is the opposite of racist, surely?

pid-1 4y ago

You're likely less productive due being uncomfortable and not due heat itself. In many places, due humidity, architectures, trees, dressing culture etc... 27-30 degrees is super comfortable. Anecdotally, I'm completely unprepared for anything lower than 22 degrees, it makes my life absolutely miserable.

2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
I've got it the other way around. I can run around with a pair of jeans, a tshirt and a hoodie when it's -20C outside, but anything over +20C makes me insanely uncomfortable. As expected per your hypothesis, my productivity drops like a rock during summer.
- M0r13n 4y ago
  Same for me! I even thought of moving to Sweden or Norway during summer. Even tough I am already living at the very north of Germany.
ClumsyPilot 4y ago
> uncomfortable and not due heat itself well if someone is cutting your leg while you are typing, you are less productive due to being uncomfortable, not due to missing a leg as you dont need a leg to type. since evntually the heat kills you, it stands to reason that the condition is not only 'dead' and 'alive', but also includes 'barely surviving', and that condition is not productive.
M0r13n 4y ago
> You're likely less productive due being uncomfortable and not due heat itself. If the heat makes me feel uncomfortable, thus making me less productive, it is still the heat that causes the decline of productivity.

girvo 4y ago

I wonder how common that is. I only find that once it gets to about 30 degrees, but I live in south east Queensland and so I’m somewhat acclimated to higher every day temperatures

yrgulation 4y ago

Anecdotally, if its too hot outside i struggle to sleep and i can barely function during the day. Unless my brain is properly ventilated my productivity simply dives.

voisin 4y ago

> Personally, I notice the first symptoms at around 25 degrees. I was like this for probably 20 years. I had resigned myself to the notion that this was an immutable fact. During COVID, I stayed for 6 months somewhere with a gym and sauna. I began doing cardio for 1 - 1.5 hours per day and 45 minutes in the sauna. I am shocked at how this year, with already intense heat, how little the temperatures affect me. 100% anecdata, and I don’t know if it is the cardio or the sauna, but it has totally changed my enjoyment of this season.

elevaet 4y ago
It's both cardio and sauna. The body adapts to these stimuli with greater heat adaptation, it's well studied in sports physiology. It works even better when cardio is combined with heat: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24444197/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24444197/
M0r13n 4y ago
If things are getting hot here, this could be a good tip. For me this increased tolerance to heat could be worth the effort if training in a Sauna.

nottorp 4y ago

Besides the extremes where the body simply can't take it any more, it also depends on what you're used to. I'm typing this with the a/c set to 26 degrees. But I'm in my home office and definitely not wearing a suit and tie. I feel just fine(tm). Your mileage is obviously different. Edit: there's also the cultural thing of setting the a/c in offices to 18 C because that's where a man in a 3 piece suit would feel comfortable. Just drop the 3 piece suit if you're still wearing it :)

M0r13n 4y ago
I am quite grateful, that I can show up at work in whatever clothes I like. A suit during summer would be so stressful.

wsc981 4y ago

I work fine in warm weather. Since I live in Thailand I often work in temperatures of around 30 degrees. In my home office I only use a fan. Same as someone else in this thread: I get very unproductive when it's too cold. If my fingers feel cold, it just becomes much less pleasant to use they keyboard. It's one of the reasons why I emigrated from a Northern European country to Thailand.

slategruen 4y ago

Us in the tropical region, we are usually fine around the low-30s and even higher as long as there's fans. Most of the public schools in our country have ceiling fans and large open windows so that air could circulate better. I blame Westerners' addiction to air-conditioning for their low tolerance in temperature (which is by the way, further fueling the climate crisis).

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
deadbunny 4y ago
The problem is that western buildings for the most part are not designed for those temperatures in mind, we were more concerned with keeping heat in historically.
Dudeman112 4y ago
>I blame Westerners' addiction to air-conditioning for their low tolerance in temperature Western Europeans at least either have decent tolerance to high temperature, or have low tolerance due to the weather itself being colder Sauce: spent the first 25 years of my life in a tropical country, then moved to north-ish of England. My tolerance to high temperatures got way, way lower and the only place I've been with AC were a couple of car rides Air conditioning was far more common back home
gyaru 4y ago
> Westerners' addiction to air-conditioning for their low tolerance You're aware that barely anyone in Europe even own AC-units?
- sph 4y ago
  Europe is big and spans many latitudes. Not many AC units here in UK, they're quite common in Italy.
- 988747 4y ago
  But we spent most of our days in offices with AC.

kkfx 4y ago

I'm much more concerned about nature: we can, at least in western countries for middle-class and above, afford aircon and heating systems, but nature can't. We have started experimenting in artificial environments like "vertical farms" etc but overall results are not good on scale. Long story short: we can't survive anyway if nature can't with us.

puranjay 4y ago

my productivity craters in the summers because I'm forced to be indoors all day in air conditioning. No random walks around just to clear my head and break the monotony.

kolinko 4y ago

I’m the same. If the temperature at home is over 23-25 deg during day and night my brain shuts down. I feel kind of fine, but I’m unable to do anything that requires creative or technical thought. (with around 50-60% humidity)

Gimpei 4y ago

There's a ton of research on the effects of air conditioning on learning exploiting (purportedly) pseudo-random introduction of air conditioning to schools. Here's one: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Fpol.20180612 https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Fpol.20180612

sph 4y ago

Human productivity peaks in a narrow range between not-shivering and not-sweating. With the exact same preconditions (clothing, etc.) you'll find it's a 10 degree window, if not less.

logifail 4y ago

> I also notice a considerable degradation of mental work Austria's Federal Statistical Office reported this week[0] that there is a significant increase in the number of road traffic accidents in Austria on days with a top temperature of 30°C or above. They report a corresponding increase of the proportion of road accidents caused by "distraction" or "carelessness" on these hot days. [0] https://www.diepresse.com/6157876/ein-viertel-mehr-verkehrsunfaelle-an-hitzetagen-in-oesterreich https://www.diepresse.com/6157876/ein-viertel-mehr-verkehrsu...

KVFinn 4y ago

>Obviously, physical work becomes harder and correspondingly less productive during heat. But I also notice a considerable degradation of mental work. Personally, I notice the first symptoms at around 25 degrees. I can manage being hot while awake, as long as I can sleep in the cold. If I'm hot while sleeping it's almost like I never slept at all.

cs137 4y ago

Yes. Agricultural collapse, rather than heatstroke, is what'll start killing people if we see WBTs in the low 30s. The tropics don't usually get as hot as the worst days in the midlatitude zones; what defines the tropical zone is temperature consistency. This means that many species won't adapt to serious climate change if it happens so rapidly, but it also means we can expect labor productivity to drop by 50% or more, because if tropical locations start posting 31-32 WBTs, they won't be doing it once per year (as you see on the hottest days in the midlatitudes) but hundreds of days per year. If corporate workers become 50% less productive, that just means fewer passive-aggressive emails get sent; but if global farm labor becomes 50% less productive, we're in a shitload of trouble.

Buttons840 4y ago

I've had a similar thought related to CO2. The human race will become collectively dumber as CO2 levels rise. It might take a while for CO2 levels to double or quadruple, but high indoor CO2 levels make people perform worse, and so increasing the base CO2 level will make everyone dumber. And as you say, the heat won't help either. This is an angle I've taken with people who don't believe human activity increases temperatures. A small intelligence hit applied to literally every single human is a big thing. And it's hard for people to deny we're increasing CO2 levels.

dredmorbius 4y ago

A quick web search suggests yes.[1] The Impact of Different Environmental Conditions on Cognitive Function: A Focused Review Lee Taylor, Samuel L. Watkins, Hannah Marshall, Ben J. Dascombe, and Josh Foster Front Physiol. 2015; 6: 372. Published online 2016 Jan 6. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2015.00372 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4701920/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4701920/ Abstract: Cognitive function defines performance in objective tasks that require conscious mental effort. Extreme environments, namely heat, hypoxia, and cold can all alter human cognitive function due to a variety of psychological and/or biological processes. The aims of this Focused Review were to discuss; (1) the current state of knowledge on the effects of heat, hypoxic and cold stress on cognitive function, (2) the potential mechanisms underpinning these alterations, and (3) plausible interventions that may maintain cognitive function upon exposure to each of these environmental stressors. The available evidence suggests that the effects of heat, hypoxia, and cold stress on cognitive function are both task and severity dependent. Complex tasks are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat stress, whereas both simple and complex task performance appear to be vulnerable at even at moderate altitudes. Cold stress also appears to negatively impact both simple and complex task performance, however, the research in this area is sparse in comparison to heat and hypoxia. In summary, this focused review provides updated knowledge regarding the effects of extreme environmental stressors on cognitive function and their biological underpinnings. Tyrosine supplementation may help individuals maintain cognitive function in very hot, hypoxic, and/or cold conditions. However, more research is needed to clarify these and other postulated interventions. ________________________________ Notes: 1. Search: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ambient+temperature+effects+cognitive+function&t=ffab&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ambient+temperature+effects+cognit... A Google Scholar search of the same terms produces over 283,000 results and might be worth exploring as well: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=ambient%20temperature%20effects%20cognitive%20function&btnG=Search&as_sdt=800000000001&as_sdtp=on https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=ambient%20temperature%2...