Why Warm Countries Are Poorer

Importance: 7 | # | Tomas Pueyo: Humans evolved in the African highlands, where temperatures are stable throughout the year, and close to that of spring & fall in temperate regions. This is why we feel most comfortable there. Close to the equator, if we’re not in the mountains, the temperatures are too high for us. We can’t think or work properly because we overheat, and our sweat can’t cool us off because humidity is too high. We also suffer from many more diseases, more common in hot moist climates, but also because we didn’t evolve there. A very interesting read. I also found out some things that I wasn't aware of: Opus-5.5: Exams: Park (2022) used New York City high school exit exams, where students take tests on different days with different temperatures. Taking the exam on a hot day (around 32°C, 90°F) instead of a mild one lowered scores measurably and cut the chance of graduating. Teachers partly made up for it by bumping grades on hot exams. Pueyo's footnote 3 quotes this…