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August 13, 2026 / 3:27 PM EDT
/ CBS News California
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When a heat dome descended on Minnesota in mid-July, Duluth-based Canal Park Brewing Company had its air conditioning blasting. Then it cut out. Faced with sweltering conditions, the business was forced to close for the day and halt outdoor patio service for three days to protect its servers from the soaring mercury. "Where we are is a pretty big touristy kind of destination, so we make most of our money in the summer," said Alex Niemi, a restaurant manager at the brewery, which offers small-batch beers and pub fare. "So yeah, it was a pretty big impact. Even just those couple of days, it kind of threw off our whole month."With July just setting a record as the hottest month ever recorded in the contiguous U.S., rising temperatures are increasingly taking an economic toll, from small businesses taking a financial hit to transit delays and power outages.The main way heat waves hurt the economy is through weaker business productivity, Jeremy Porter, physical risk research director at climate risk modeling firm First Street, told CBS News."It's the disruption of business as usual, whether it's because of damaged infrastructure, power disruptions or reduced labor productivity," he said. A First Street analysis of nearly 30,000 business financial disclosures found that the third most common climate-related concern among companies was the impact of extreme heat on their workforce. The top two concerns focused on the impact of drought.
