Outdoor worker productivity drops significantly when daily maximum temperatures exceed 32 degrees Celsius.

Human biology imposes strict physical limits on labor. When localized daily temperatures climb past 32°C, workers in exposed, outdoor industries like agriculture and construction are forced to stop working early. This silent drain on human effort directly hampers regional productivity. Combined with the fact that staple crops like corn suffer damage above 30°C, rising heat days pose a direct, compounding threat to the food security and financial stability of the rural poor.