‘We feel like the peasants’: women and low-income families bear brunt of heatwave

AI Summary

A severe heatwave across Western Europe disproportionately impacts women and low-income families, exposing socioeconomic vulnerabilities worsened by insufficient urban adaptation to climate change. Experts highlight that marginalized groups bear the greatest burden from climate-induced heat stress.

As temperatures soar across Europe, cities are struggling to adapt, further exacerbating socioeconomic divisions The heatwave afflicting western Europe is the worst ever, with the combination of heat and humidity fuelled by the climate crisis making scores of cities feel unliveable. While for some the adverse impacts amount to disturbed sleep and sticky days in the home office, low-income families are often worse affected by cities’ lack of adequate adaptation measures, with women at the sharp end. “[It] throws a grenade into every vulnerability you already have,” says Asad Rehman, chief executive of Friends of the Earth, pointing out that vulnerable or marginalised groups often bear the brunt of climate crisis-based hardship globally. Continue reading...