Last week, the news was full of a study about the effects of excessive heat on young children (coinciding with the start of school, no doubt), noting that it hits them hard. An article from the Harvard Graduate School of Education entitled “Excessive Heat Hits Young Children Hard” by Elizabeth M. Ross (July 8, 2024) notes that:
 Young children are not able to regulate their body temperatures in the same way as grown-ups, and severe heat can lead to “muscle breakdown, kidney failure, seizure, coma, or even death in extreme cases,” according to a new working paper from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard. (Id.)
 The article notes that excessive heat will affect children’s cognitive abilities, including the ability to concentrate, reduce the likelihood of a good night’s sleep, and increase their stress levels, thereby affecting their emotional development. (Id.)
Reading about this reminded me of the blog I posted in June about the effects of heat on adults, noting that it affects their cognitive abilities as well as their tendency for aggression. The post is reprinted here.
If you have paid the slightest attention to the news over the last few weeks, you have noticed that a heat wave is gripping most of the nation. Excessive heat warnings seem to be posted everywhere.
Thus, a recent New York Times article entitled “How Heat Affects the Brain” by Dana G. Smith, dated June 19, 2024, caught my attention. She recounts a study conducted by Jose Guillermo Cedeno, a researcher at Harvard at the time, of how the heat wave in Boston in July 2016 affected the cognitive abilities of 44 students staying in Boston for the summer. He had the students perform math and self-control tests before, during, and after the heat wave. He determined that the heat did indeed affect the cognitive abilities of the students:
During the hottest days, the students in the un-air-conditioned dorms, where nighttime temperatures averaged 79 degrees, performed significantly worse on the tests they took every morning than the students with A.C., whose rooms stayed a pleasant 71 degrees. (Id.)
It seems that not only does the heat affect us physically, creating the risk of heart attacks, heatstroke, and death, but it also affects our cognitive abilities by impairing our cognition and making us irritable, impulsive, and aggressive. (Id. at 2.)
Other studies have shown that just a 4-degree rise in temperature can lead to a 10 percent average drop in performance on tests involving memory, reaction time, and executive functions (Id.) In practical terms, researchers found that students’ scores on standardized tests fell 0.2 percent for every degree above 72 Fahrenheit. Thus, if a student is forced to take any test- standardized or otherwise- in an unconditioned room during a heat wave, her score will be lower than if the test were given in winter. (Id.) And, since lower income and racially minority students seem less likely to have air-conditioning, this discrepancy was more pronounced in their test scores. (Id.)
By looking at crime data for both violent and non-violent acts, researchers found a link between heat and aggression: more crimes occur when it is hot outside. (Id.at 2.) People are also more likely to engage in hate speech online and honk their horns in traffic when it is outside. (Id. at 3.). Our tempers are short, and we are quick to (mis)interpret the actions of others as hostile. (Id. at 3.)
Why are we so aggressive? One theory is that the resources- blood and glucose- normally flowing to the brain are being diverted to the rest of our body to keep us cool, which results in lower energy for everything else. (Id.) Or you are irritable and miserable simply as a coping mechanism to force you to find a nice, air-conditioned room. (Id.)
The antidote is to cool off by finding an air-conditioned room or intense fans and staying hydrated. (Id. at 4.)
And, as the title of this blog suggests, do not attempt to resolve or mediate a dispute when you are hot, irritable, and miserable. Your cognitive abilities are diminished, and you will be impulsive and aggressive, possibly doing more harm than good.
…. Just something to think about.
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