Climate change ratchets up the stress on farmworkers

PUBLISHED 9:05 AM ET Jul. 10, 2023Mily Trevino-Sauceda was 9 when her mother fell as she worked to move irrigation pipes along rows of potato and alfalfa on an Idaho farm. Mily's 10-year-old brother splashed water over their mother's face and body while her children looked on, scared and crying. Their mother had fainted from the heat, and could never again work as fast or as long in the sun.

“Knowing all this still happens, it angers,” said Trevino-Sauceda, now the executive director of Alianza de Campesinas, a women farmworkers’ organization based in Oxnard, California. “It angers because we know what it is to do this kind of work. And even though we want to be loyal to doing a good job, we don’t even think at the time that if we’re treated as human beings or not. We just want to survive it.

“There’s no escaping it,” he said of the exposure to the elements over the 20 years he's been in the industry. “No matter if you’re, you know, covered from head to toe in like the best ventilated clothing or wearing the hats and all that, or in a T-shirt or anything, it’s going to be hot no matter what.”

Climate change makes extreme heat more likely and more intense. Farm work is particularly dangerous because workers raise their internal body temperature by moving, lifting and walking at the same time they're exposed to high heat and humidity, said Dr. Jonathan Patz, chair of health and the environment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

If workers don't take breaks to get out of the sun, drink water and rest, they can experience nausea, vomiting, dehydration, muscle cramps and more — all the symptoms of a fever without any infection, said Roxana Chicas, an assistant professor in the nursing school at Emory University in Atlanta.

Energy Energy Latest News, Energy Energy Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Climate change ratchets up the stress on farmworkers on the front lines of a warming EarthAs Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside.
Source: AP - 🏆 728. / 51 Read more »

Climate Change Ratchets Up Stress On Farmworkers On The Front Lines Of A Warming Earth'We just want to survive it.”
Source: HuffPostWomen - 🏆 27. / 68 Read more »

Climate change ratchets up the stress on farmworkers on the front lines of a warming EarthAs Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside.
Source: KTVU - 🏆 465. / 53 Read more »

Climate change ratchets up the stress on farmworkers on the front lines of a warming EarthFarm workers are 35 times more likely to die of heat exposure than workers in other industries, but there is no federal heat standard that ensures their safety.
Source: wsyx6 - 🏆 444. / 53 Read more »

Earth's very hot week explained: US temps didn't drive global heat wave.The global heat records are another reminder of how vast and interconnected the Earth is as climate change effects pile up. Here's what to know.
Source: YahooNews - 🏆 380. / 59 Read more »