Human capital generally, and cognitive skills specifically, play a crucial role in determining economic mobility and macroeconomic growth. While elevated temperatures have been shown to impair short-run cognitive performance, much less is known about whether heat exposure affects the rate of skill formation. We combine standardized achievement data for 58 countries and 12,000 US school districts with detailed weather and academic calendar information to show that the rate of learning decreases with an increase in the number of hot school days. These results provide evidence that climatic differences may contribute to differences in educational achievement both across countries and within countries by socioeconomic status and that may have important implications for the magnitude and functional form of climate damages in coupled human–natural systems.

一般而言，人力资本，尤其是认知技能，在决定经济流动性和宏观经济增长方面发挥着至关重要的作用。虽然升高的温度已被证明会损害短期认知能力，但人们对热暴露是否会影响技能形成的速度知之甚少。我们将 58 个国家和 12,000 个美国学区的标准化成绩数据与详细的天气和学术日历信息相结合，表明学习率随着上学天数的增加而降低。