08/07/2026
Heat waves can affect more than daily comfort and public health. They can also create real economic costs.
Extreme heat can reduce productivity among outdoor workers, increase utility bills, strain power grids, reduce crop yields, and keep some consumers closer to home.
One federal climate assessment found that the average number of heat waves in major U.S. cities each year has doubled since the 1980s.
Researchers have also found that more frequent extreme heat and severe droughts can weigh on gross domestic product, while heat-related economic losses have reached trillions of dollars globally in recent decades.
The impact can be especially significant for heat-exposed industries such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing, transportation, and mining.
For households and businesses, extreme heat is a reminder that weather risk can affect budgets, supply chains, labor productivity, food prices, and energy costs.
Source:
Heat waves threaten costs for the economy, sapping workers' productivity, shutting shoppers inside their homes and driving up utility costs, analysts told ABC News.
