Chapter 5. Heat and Learning in a Moderate Climate: Temperature Effects on Primary School Students in the Netherlands by Hsiang (2016). Linsenmeier (2024), for instance, study the relationship between temperature and outdoor recreation, and show that individuals living in warmer areas tend to favor visiting outdoor recreational area on warmer days. So, students in moderate climates might be more vulnerable to temperature extremes, as they are less accustomed to such conditions and, consequently, more affected by them. In addition, the most recent Europe Climate Risk Assessment of 2024 reinforces our interest in the effects of heat in Europe, as it acknowledges that Europe has been negatively impacted by extreme heat in several domains in previous years (EEA, 2024). Furthermore, studying the effects of heat in Europe, and more specifically in the Netherlands, is even more relevant, as warming happens twice as fast in the Netherlands compared to the world average (KNMI, 2021). This is mostly due to the significant portion of European land in the Arctic, which is warming faster than any other region, and shifts in atmospheric circulation that increase the likelihood of summer heatwaves (Copernicus, 2024). Our second contribution to the literature is that we shed light on a relatively unexplored aspect of younger children’s experiences by providing evidence on how temperature impacts primary school students. This age group, ranging from six to twelve years old, represents a critical phase for cognitive and human capital development (e.g., Cunha & Heckman, 2007). Hence, possible negative consequences of extreme temperatures might be especially harmful. However, existing evidence predominantly involves high school or university students (e.g., Cho, 2017; Graff Zivin et al., 2020; Park et al., 2020). Only Garg et al. (2020), Roach and Whitney (2022), and Dang et al. (2024) have established negative effects of heat on primary school performance in India, the 112
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