Abstract This study offers some of the first evidence in a developing country context that transitory exposure to high temperatures may disrupt low-stakes cognitive activities across a range of age cohorts. By matching eight years of repeated cognitive tests among all the participants in a nationally representative longitudinal survey in China with weather data according to the exact time and geographic location of their assessment, we show that exposure to a temperature above 32°C on the test date, relative to a moderate day within 22°C–24°C, leads to a sizable decline in their math scores by 0.066 standard deviations (equivalent to 0.23 years of education). Further, the effect on the math test scores is more salient for individuals who are older or less educated.

It’s not just the planet and not just our health – the impact of a warming climate extends deep into our cortical fissures

A new study suggests a link between past climate changes and a drop in the size of the human brain – an adaptive response that emerges in an analysis of climate records and human remains over a 50,000-year period.