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Scorched Workers

North Carolina is seeing the effects of a warming climate. Workers in a number of industries - including agriculture, construction, and transportation - face a disproportionate impact of rising heat.

Hospital emergency rooms across the state treated more than 3,700 people for heat-related illnesses this past summer. And in the last 15 years, more than a dozen people have died in the workplace because of heat.

Experts say there aren’t enough policies to protect outdoor workers from the dangers of extreme heat. With a quickly warming climate, the push to implement heat related protections is even more urgent.

Our series, Scorched Workers, examines the impact of rising heat on outdoor workers and explores the role worker protections is having in this year’s race for North Carolina’s labor commissioner.

Support for this project comes from the Kozik Environmental Justice Reporting Grants funded by the National Press Foundation and the National Press Club Journalism Institute.

Reporters: Celeste Gracia, Aaron Sánchez-Guerra
Digital Producer: Eli Chen
Social Media Producer: Josh Sullivan
Audio Engineer: Sean Roux
Digital Editor: Jason deBruyn
Project Editor: Elizabeth Baier
News Director: Brent Wolfe


Read the stories in our series:

The National Weather Service maintains daily heat advisories. Use the map below to see warnings in your area