The WHO’s report, although it looks specifically at the workplace, also warns that the elderly, the chronically ill, and the young are at particular risk during heatwaves. That means schools as well as workplaces need to adapt.
In Germany, schools can declare “Hitzefrei”, when temperatures rise above a certain level. In the 1970s, 80s, or 90s, this often meant that, when the thermometer climbed above 30C, the school bell rang twice, and everyone could go home.
But that was when such temperatures were rare. Now 30C is increasingly common, and schools are reluctant to interrupt lessons so frequently. The WHO’s Rüdiger Krech understands why. “We’ve seen during Covid that stopping school… our school children are suffering still from it. Just thinking that the easy solution is we stop schooling, that is very often the most expensive on the children.”
When schools went back in Switzerland last week, temperatures across the country were well over 30C. The advice to teachers: take your classes to the swimming pool. But as Dagmar Rösler, head of the Swiss teachers’ association, told Swiss media, “We can’t do all our classes in the swimming pool – we’ve got things we need to teach.”
Ms Rösler, perhaps anticipating the WHO’s call for adaptation, called for school buildings, many of which are due for renovation, to include new ventilation systems, and even air conditioning.
“I just want people to remember that this is about making sure our children can learn in an environment that is comfortable for them,” she said. “And that our teachers can work in conditions that are bearable.”
The WHO/WMO report says adaptation needs to be done in consultation with everyone, from governments, to employers and workers, to local councils, and health and education authorities. Rüdiger Krech already has one suggestion that might appeal not only to school pupils in the UK, but to cash-strapped schools with little money for renovation.
“The school uniforms that you have in the UK, are they adapted to the heat waves? These are questions that we want people to consider.”
But there is no avoiding the fact that to adapt workplaces, schools, or even hospitals to cope with increased extreme heat will require investment. Many governments, especially in Europe, are refocussing their spending on defence, while climate change adaptation has slipped down the priority list.
Mr Krech warns this could be short sighted. “Just to think, I don’t have the money for all these changes. Well, think twice. Because if you need to stop producing, if you have your workers with severe health effects because of the extended heat waves, then think about the productivity losses that you have. To just think, I don’t have the money, so I’ll let it stay as it is, that’s perhaps the most expensive solution.”