Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
NAPPY DAYS
Continued temperature rising could mean we’ll need a little siesta in our average day’s work
WORKERS in Northern Ireland may need to introduce Spanish siestas if the weather continues to get warmer, academics believe.
Concerns have been raised about the ability of employees to focus and carry out their day-to-day tasks properly in top temperatures.
Increasing evidence shows that global warming could trigger more regular heatwaves here.
Experts at the London-based Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment have noted that excessive workplace heat is a serious occupational health and productivity concern.
Studies have found that a rise in the average global temperature of 6 degrees Celsius could trigger a 27% loss in labour productivity.
Grantham-based Tarek Cheaib said: “Have you ever wondered why the Spanish take afternoon siestas or why most Greeks and Italians close their shops for a couple of hours during lunchtime?
“When people carry out physical work, heat is produced internally and needs to be transferred externally to make sure that our body temperature remains constant.
“As the body works harder to maintain its temperature within acceptable norms, mental ability, work capacity and productivity diminish.”
He added: “Studies have shown that labour productivity decreases by 2% for every degree (C) above ‘normal’ room temperature.”
Climatologists raised concerns that the prolonged heatwaves and soaring temperatures that have been the dominant feature of this summer could become the norm in just 30 years.
Leading climatologist Professor John Sweeney said: “We’ve seen a sequence of extreme weather events in recent years, including Hurricane Ophelia late last year, the Beast from the East and this current drought.
“Everywhere in the country is half a degree warmer than 30 years ago, and we expect over the next 20 years we will warm by a further half degree or by one degree over the next 30 years.”
GRANTHAM RESEARCH