Inequitable Distribution of Heat Exposure Risks Driven by Trade

Inequitable Distribution of Heat Exposure Risks Driven by Trade | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Inequitable Distribution of Heat Exposure Risks Driven by Trade Yong Geng, Meng Li, Bo Meng, Fan Tong, Yuning Gao, Norihiko Yamano, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4463391/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 09 Jan, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The exposure to extreme heat at workplaces may result in great risks to the involved labour. This issue becomes more prominent due to the global dispersion of labour-intensive work via trade. Here we combine a high-resolution climate model with an input–output model to investigate the exposure to extreme heat at work due to global trade. We find an 89% surge in trade-related labour exposure to extreme heat, escalating from 221.5 to 419.0 billion person-hours between 1995 and 2020. The lower-middle-income and low-income economies constituted 53.7% and 18.3% of global exposure, while only 5.7% and 1.0% in global labour compensation. In countries highly susceptible to extreme heat conditions, workers could spend up to about 50% of their working hours in heated conditions. Our findings uncover the disproportionate trade effects in redistributing global benefits and costs, which leads to the inequality in heat exposure between rich and poor economies. In striving for equitable and safe work conditions and social justice, workers vulnerable to heat extremes should be protected through the development of climate adaptation infrastructure in developing economies, especially those engaged in international trade. Scientific community and society/Developing world Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Climate-change impacts/Environmental health Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Climate-change adaptation Scientific community and society/Social sciences/Climate change/Climate-change impacts/Environmental health Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Supplementary.docx Inequitable Distribution of Heat Exposure Risks Driven by Trade Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 09 Jan, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4463391","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":308817094,"identity":"c4f590fd-2f36-422b-8978-6e8641c8fc10","order_by":0,"name":"Yong 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