People sit by the pier at sunset in Singapore.
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Due to reduced labor productivity, Singapore’s economic losses due to heat stress may nearly double to US$1.64 billion by 2035 compared to pre-pandemic 2018. A recent study from the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine showed that.
As early as 2018, heat stress caused an average productivity decline of 11.3% in Singapore’s four major economic sectors – services, construction, manufacturing and agriculture. And it’s definitely going to get worse.
The National University of Singapore’s HeatSafe project reports that productivity is expected to fall by 14% in 2035, adjusted for inflation, resulting in an economic loss of S$2.22 billion (US$1.64 billion).
Losses can be significantly higher for workers exposed to adverse environmental conditions (those who work in the sun or exposed to other heat sources such as machinery).
“It is estimated that reduced productivity during working hours (i.e. presenteeism) means a median loss of earnings of S$21 per worker on each hot day.”
The HeatSafe project is the first large-scale study in Singapore and the region to assess the impact of rising heat levels on productivity and health at both individual and macroeconomic levels.
Dr. Natalia Borzino of the Federal Polytechnic Center in Singapore, a collaborator on the HeatSafe project, said they used 2018 as the baseline for the study because that was the year before the pandemic and the last “normal year” for which the team had data.
This island country is Warming twice as fast as the rest of the worldwith its UV index recently hit ‘extreme’ levels For the second time in four days, the highest band of Singapore’s solar ultraviolet radiation standards has been reached.this the latest update As of Wednesday, it reflected “moderate” levels.
The Southeast Asian nation isn’t the only one facing such sweltering heat.
In early February, scientists warned that global warming had exceeded a key year-round threshold for the first time.Last July, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warns that the world has moved from global warming to an “era of global boiling”.
In addition to affecting cognitive ability and physical exertion, research from the National University of Singapore also found that extreme heat poses a risk to Singapore’s fertility rate. Already at a historical low.
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