I noticed this Summer I started transitioning my morning walks to pre-sunrise hours to try to escape the heat (since even mornings in Ohio are getting to be hot). Since global warming (or climate change in general) is happening and there’s apparently nothing to be done to fix it in our lifetimes, it made me wonder if our overall society might move towards more nocturnal working hours instead of the standard 9–5, just to escape overheating during the day?
There’s probably no incentive currently, since workers aren’t dropping like flies yet, but I could see it coming into play as global warming gets worse over time and it causes legitimate production issues. Probably some jobs wouldn’t have the option, but most I think would be able to benefit from it. Does this sound like something realistic, or are we cursed to have to endure extreme temperatures because we’ve always worked in the daytime and we can’t/won’t change now?
No human society in any climate has ever been nocturnal: https://web.archive.org/web/20030318032208/http://condor.depaul.edu/~mfiddler/hyphen/humunivers.htm
No, but a lot of communities in hotter climates have integrated habits like siestas, where breaks including are taken in the hottest part of the day. I can see that being adopted more, especially in cases when wet bulb temperatures exceed the human body’s capacity to cool itself.
I also know that a lot of construction activities in Phoenix and Las Vegas in the summer months are scheduled towards early morning due to the heat. They might work an hour or two in twilight and then finish work by early afternoon.
I expect schedules to change, but I don’t see going full nocturnal.