Japanese Farmers Adopt Nocturnal Schedules to Combat Extreme Heat and Protect Crops
Farmers in Japan are increasingly shifting their work to nighttime hours to cope with extreme heatwaves that have made daytime agricultural labor dangerous and detrimental to crops and livestock. Motoaki Iijima, a flower farmer north of Tokyo, now harvests gerberas after sunset, a change he implemented three summers ago after a worker suffered heatstroke. Temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) can push greenhouse interiors above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). This adaptation is not isolated; farmers globally, from Vietnam to Spain, are adopting similar nocturnal schedules. Japan is particularly vulnerable due to its aging farming population, with approximately 70% of farmers being 65 or older, a demographic highly susceptible to heat stress, compounded by high humidity. In 2024, a record 59 agricultural workers in Japan died from extreme heat, more than double the 2021 figure. A survey by the Japan Weather Association revealed that nearly 60% of farmers aged 20-50 h... 
