The study analyzed previous research encompassing nearly 14.5 million students across 61 countries. The findings show clear evidence that heat exposure over time is correlated to lower scores in math and other complex cognitive tasks among elementary, middle and high school students.
Even on days when temperatures were between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, the data show that students can experience heat stress, followed by a drop in cognitive performance. The effects of heat exposure on learning are often not seen until much later, said Konstantina Vasilakopoulou, a Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology professor who co-authored the paper with Matthaios Santamouris of the University of New South Wales. “So many studies have found that temperatures of the year before a serious exam affect students more than temperatures during the exam year itself. We simply do not have enough time to recover,” Vasilakopoulou said.
According to the paper, students from lower-income families often have less access to air-conditioned classrooms and homes, making them more vulnerable to the harmful effects of heat. Racial disparities were also evident in the data, with Black and Latino students in the U.S. seeing up to three times greater cognitive losses due to heat compared to their white peers.
“There are larger numbers of Black and Hispanic people living in poorer areas where the conditions are worse, temperatures higher, and air conditioning and ventilation often lacking,” Vasilakopoulou said.
Future climate scenarios predict even greater, and in some ways, surprising challenges. By 2050, if current warming trends continue without adequate adaptation measures, students in currently cooler regions may start to suffer the same problems that those in warmer climates do now. That’s because in places that are already hot, there’s more likely to be some amount of infrastructure to deal with the heat, whereas in colder areas, that may not be the case.
Adaptive strategies such as improved ventilation, air conditioning and green infrastructure can help reduce the effects, but many schools, particularly those in underserved areas, lack the resources to implement them effectively.
In Southern California, the findings resonate deeply. “As classroom temperatures rise over time — especially during extended heat waves or in schools with less shade, poorer insulation and lacking access to air conditioning — students tend to show declines in attention, memory and test performance,” said Edith de Guzman, a climate researcher at UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation. Heat can also affect students’ abilities to enjoy outdoor recreational activities, having serious effects on their physical, mental and social well-being, she said.
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