Deforestation Has Been Exposing Outdoor Workers to Danger For the Past 15 Years

Deforestation and climate change are causing the tropics to heat up, making it more difficult for outdoor workers to do their jobs safely. 

(Photo : Getty Images)

Temperature Change Linked to Deforestation

Researchers estimate how many safe working hours individuals in the tropics have lost over the last 15 years as a result of local temperature change linked to deforestation. The report was made in journal One Earth, which was published on December 17th.

Compared to persons living in wooded areas, there has been a substantial decline in acceptable work hours linked with heat exposure simply over the last 15 or 20 years, says Duke University climate researcher Luke Parsons, the study's lead author.

As a result of recent climate change, there has been a slight increase in humid heat exposure for persons living in the deforested areas compared to those in the wooded areas in the last 15 years, according to Phys.org.

Deforestation has already been linked to an increase in local temperature, according to previous studies. Shade is provided by trees, which obscure the sun's rays. As a result of evapotranspiration, plants chill the air by transporting and then evaporating water from their leaves, much as sweating does.

Temperatures seem to be regulated by the trees in the tropics. Atmosphere loses that cooling service from trees when they are taken down, and it may become very, very hot. As a result of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon during the last 15 or 20 years, the afternoons may be as much as 10 degrees Celsius warmer than they would have been in a forest.

Also Read: Worsening Situation in Amazon Rainforest May Expose Millions of People to Lethal Heat Stress

Lost Safe Work Time

Deforestation-induced climate change affects more people than previously thought, according to the One Earth research.

A team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, studied the temperature and humidity in 94 low-latitude nations with tropical forests from 2003 to 2018, using satellite data and meteorological measurements.

About 5 million individuals missed at least half an hour of safe work time a day in newly deforested areas because the weather was too hot and humid to properly do heavy labor.

At the very least, 2.8 million of these individuals are engaged in physically demanding employment in the fields of agriculture and construction. Heat strain and heat-related disorders, such as heat stroke, may be deadly if they occur as a result of excessive physical exertion in hot and humid conditions.

Because of climate change, many tropical places are already too hot and humid to operate. If deforestation continues, these areas might become much more dangerous workplaces.

(Photo : Getty Images)

Positive and Negative Message From the Research

As a result of deforestation, this research predicts that approximately 100,000 individuals living in the tropics have lost more than two hours of safe work time every day; 90% of those people are in Asia. Parsons suggests that Asia's high population density is to blame for the disproportionate   distribution.

Parsons said: "I think the research has a positive message and a negative message. The negative message is that if we cut down trees, we not only cause problems for the ecosystem and global carbon emissions, but we also lose local cooling services that provide a comfortable and safe place to work.

But the positive message is that if we can prevent forest loss, we can maintain cooling services along with all the other benefits forests provide. Importantly, the relationship between the health of the forests and nearby people offers an additional, locally relevant reason to prevent tree loss."

Related Article: Amazon is Currently Experiencing the Worst Deforestation in 15 Years!

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