But the ripple effects of this shift could lead to a big loss in meat processing jobs, and uncertainty remains around how the industry’s resources would shift in the economy, a new study found. I think the education and outreach piece can’t be understated, like if they don’t know that this is a problem, how are they going to stop it?” SCIENCE More Plant-Based Meat Means Fewer Meat-Based JobsĪ cultural shift toward plant-based meat alternatives could significantly reduce the carbon footprint of U.S. “I think all coaches hopefully understand that. “There’s no win that is worth someone getting sick and dying,” she said. Dee said it’s important to inform the students to recognize the signs of heat illness and make clear that it’s OK to stop if they feel symptoms coming on. It’s the coach’s job to push student athletes to work harder and perform better, and student athletes are motivated to push their limits. The dynamic between coach and student athlete can be complicated, however. “That may reflect some regional attitudes,” Dee said, “like perhaps Texans are just used to the heat.”Įven if athletes are used to exercising on hot and humid days, they are still vulnerable to exertional heat illnesses, which can range from heat rash and cramps to heat stroke, one of the leading causes of death in high school athletes.ĭee said that these results show that education and outreach needs to be done to inform coaches of the dangers of heat and how they can protect their student athletes from heat illness, especially as climate change increases the number of hot and humid days in Texas. When asked how hot it would have to be to cancel practices, more than a third of coaches put their limit above the threshold of 103 degrees that the National Weather Service considers dangerous for physical activity. Humidity is also expected to rise, pushing heat indexes into deadly zones. Average summer temperatures in Texas are expected to rise several degrees by the end of the century, with cities like Houston, Austin and Dallas expected to see average summer temperatures as high as 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Survey results of 224 Texas coaches showed nearly half were only “slightly” or “not at all” concerned about how climate change would affect their practices and the health of student athletes, while only 10 percent showed the same lack of concern regarding the effect of temperature on health. Sylvia Dee, a climate scientist and assistant professor at Rice helped turn the project into a research study, which was published this week in the journal GeoHealth. That’s what inspired undergraduates at Rice University in Houston to propose a research project to survey coaches and other athletic trainers at schools and universities around the state on whether they consider hot temperatures, humidity and climate change a health risk to their student athletes.

In Texas, football is life, days are getting hotter and climate denial lives large. CULTURE A Potentially Fatal Mix in Texas: Sports and Climate Change

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