Heat Wave Prompts Strike at the Parthenon
As temperatures soared to 45 degrees Celsius in Greece, guards and tour guides at the Parthenon went on strike, unable to endure the scorching afternoon heat in Athens.
"The weather conditions are unbearable for the country, however the Ministry of Culture has not taken drastic measures to protect workers and visitors," the Panhellenic Association of Guards of Antiquities wrote in a press release. The union went on to state that several people had fainted and suffered sunstroke on the Acropolis, prompting the walkout.
The Siesta: A Resurgence of an Ancient Tradition
In effect, the guards and tour guides' refusal to work during the hottest hours of the day was a revival of an age-old Mediterranean tradition: the siesta.
The Culture of Midday Napping
Taking a nap in the midday hours, after a large meal, was once common throughout southern Europe, including countries like Greece, Spain, and Italy. But in the modern era, the siesta has largely disappeared from European countries.
"Siesta is older than humans, with evidence of siesta-like behavior in many species of animals that avoid activity during the hottest or midday part of the day," said Dr. Simon Quilty, a researcher at the Australian National University, who has authored scientific papers on how cultures adapt to heat.
Quilty said the siesta has been under attack in recent years, with Spain's Prime Minister proposing a ban on workplace naps in 2016.
"There's been quite a strong backlash against siestas for a long time in many parts of the world," said Quilty. "It reflects changes in human values over the last 15-20 years, with an increasing emphasis on financial, material gain over cultural values and, in particular, the environment."
The word "siesta" comes from the Latin phrase sexta hora, meaning the sixth hour after sunrise, which corresponds to the time when the sun is highest in the sky and humans are best advised to avoid the heat with a big meal and a nap.
Climate Change: Making Record Heat the Norm
Climate change is causing temperatures to reach record-breaking levels in many countries, with 98% of the world's population now experiencing hotter conditions than they did in the past, according to analysis by the non-profit Climate Central.
Even nations not known for a siesta culture are now looking at the midday nap as a potential solution to increasingly extreme heat. In Germany, known for its high levels of productivity, a public health institute has recommended that workers be allowed to take midday naps to avoid heat-related illnesses.
José MarÃa MartÃn Olalla, a professor of physics at the University of Seville in Spain, said that the siesta could also be an effective strategy for dealing with rising temperatures in the United States.
"By permitting workers to have a siesta, what you're doing is avoiding the hottest part of the day with them, so they are working less in the most critical hours," said Olalla.
Avoiding Extreme Heat, Especially for Outdoor Workers
But Spain and the US have some profound cultural differences, especially regarding working hours and the significance of the midday meal. Olalla explained that, in addition to providing a midday break, the siesta also serves as a signal that lunchtime has arrived.
"For example, in Spain, lunch is the main meal of the day," he said. "In the US, lunch is much less important."
While the siesta was once common in Spain, urbanization has led to a decline in its popularity. "Nowadays, not every Spanish person has a siesta," said Olalla, the physics professor. But he believes the extreme heat of climate change is bringing the practice back.
200,000 Heat-Related Deaths Predicted
As global temperatures continue to rise, the number of heat-related deaths is also projected to increase, according to a study by Texas A&M University. The researchers predicted about 200,000 excess heat-related deaths by the end of the century, five times more than the previous century.
Mayra Reiter, director of occupational safety and health for the non-profit Farmworker Justice, said that a midday siesta could help mitigate the negative health effects of heat for workers, especially those who labor outdoors.
"Whether it's a siesta or a break in the middle of the day, it is something that every worker in hot weather conditions should have because of the risk of kidney damage from dehydration, heat stroke, and even heat-related fatalities," said Reiter.
US Employers Experiment with Solutions, Including Siestas
In the US, employers have been experimenting with various solutions to the problem of extreme heat. After a record-breaking hot summer, companies are trying out ice-cooling vests, sweat-wicking patches, and paid hydration breaks to keep their workers productive in the heat.
In the agriculture sector, where crops must be planted, tended, and harvested, farmers are switching to nighttime operations to avoid the worst of the heat during the day.
Dr. Brenda Jacklitsch, a health scientist and heat expert at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, supports the idea of midday naps for outdoor workers in particular.
Construction workers are also at risk of dying from extreme heat. In 2022, the mother of a Texas construction worker filed a $1 million lawsuit against her son's employer after he died of heat stroke, alleging that the company could have prevented his death if they had taken more heat precautions.
"Obviously, midday is the hottest time of the day, when you have the most sun overhead," said Jacklitsch. "So, if you can move your most physically demanding, strenuous kind of work to early morning or late evening, that's going to be a better strategy for keeping people safe and productive."
A Positive Climate Change Signal
One of the key benefits of siesta for workers is its role in regulating body temperature, said Nathan Morris, a professor of environmental physiology at the University of Colorado. According to Morris, taking a siesta can cool workers down both internally and externally.
The idea of adapting to extreme heat rather than pushing through it may be counterintuitive to the work culture in the US, but Quilty said that traditional, indigenous cultures in hot climates have always responded to the dangers of extreme heat.
"We've just got to get it through our thick heads that hot weather kills," he said.
Norman Frank Jurrula, one of Quilty's research collaborators on how Indigenous people adapt to climate change, said that siesta is just one example of human responses to extreme heat, alongside practices like paying attention to droughts and moving to areas with more stable water supplies.
The Siesta: A Sign of Adaptation to Climate Change
However, Quilty and Jurrula's research is limited to data from the past, rather than treating climate change as a present-day problem that is making global temperatures dangerously high for humans.
According to Olalla, the fact that people are trying to adapt is a positive sign, with the siesta making an appearance in the US - a country known for its culture of overwork and sleep deprivation.
"Actually, when I started receiving the email with the interview request, I was having a siesta," said Olalla, illustrating the enduring power of the midday nap.