Warming world 'brutalises' women as heatwaves deepen gender divide

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Rising heat fuelled by climate change will hit women harder than men when it comes to their work, pay and health, report warns

• Women face double burden from rising heat, study warns
• Poor and marginalised expected to suffer the most
• Lack of cooling equipment seen as a major concern

Women will bear the brunt of extreme heat as more frequent heatwaves on a warming planet pose a growing threat to their work, earnings and lives, researchers have warned.

The impacts of rising heat are disproportionately dangerous and costly to women - be it at home or on the job - according to a report titled 'The Scorching Divide' by the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center (Arsht-Rock).

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"Extreme heat is quietly but profoundly brutalising women worldwide," said Kathy Baughman McLeod, director of Arsht-Rock. Heat creates a "double burden" for women, the report warned.

"Women are not only more susceptible to physically getting sick from heat, they're also disproportionately expected to care for everyone else who's sick from heat, whether that's paid care or unpaid care," McLeod told Context.

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The debilitating heat will take its toll on women, forcing them to work longer hours - whether outdoors on a farm, for example, or doing unpaid domestic work like cooking and cleaning at home - for less money or no income at all, the report said.

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Lack of cooling hits women hardest

With the average number of heatwave days projected to at least double by 2050 in India, Nigeria and the United States, women from the poorest and marginalised communities will suffer the biggest blow to their productivity, the report found.

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