The Toll that Extreme Heat Takes on Women

Context:

Extreme heat has become the planet’s norm and is likely to persist for years. The year 2023 was the hottest on record, and temperatures in several parts of India during May-June 2024 were reported to be record-breaking. Women are disproportionately affected by extreme heat due to unequal power dynamics, gender norms, and unequal access to resources. This is reflected in the Global Gender Gap Index, where India ranks 18th from the bottom. The numbers are alarming, as India is home to more than one-sixth of the world’s women, and extreme heat is now a harsh reality for them.

Relevance:

GS2-

• Government Policies and Interventions
• Role of Women
• Social Empowerment
• Issues Related to Women

GS3-

• Climate Change
• Environmental Pollution and Degradation

Mains Question:

Women are disproportionately harmed by extreme heat, largely because of unequal power dynamics, gender norms, and unequal access to resources. In this context, analyse the toll that extreme heat takes on women. (15 Marks, 250 Words).

Hidden Toll:

• A recent report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), “Rising Above the Heat,” highlights the unequal impact of extreme heat on women in Asia and the Pacific.
• Women living in informal settlements in cities face multiple challenges due to rising temperatures.
• Their homes, often made of materials like tin, asbestos, and plastic, trap heat, turning them into heat chambers.
• Women also endure poorly ventilated kitchens, experiencing scorching temperatures while cooking. Rising temperatures exacerbate their extreme time poverty and care burdens.
• Due to lower productivity from heat stress, women work significantly longer hours to complete their share of unpaid work at home.
• According to the Arsht-Rock “Scorching Divide” report, productivity loss due to heatwaves translates to 90 more minutes of care work per day in India.
• This adds to the existing gender differences in time use; women spend two and a half times more minutes per day than men on unpaid work like cooking, cleaning, and fetching water and fuel (National Statistical Office 2019 data).
• Intriguingly, more than two-thirds of women’s productivity loss from heat strain occurs in the domain of unpaid labor in India.
• This loss also represents opportunity costs associated with heat stress, meaning that women could have earned extra income, acquired skills, or rested adequately.

Worryingly Pervasive:

• Urban female informal laborers face extreme weather conditions while working in marketplaces, streets, construction sites, landfills, or their employers’ homes.
• These casual-wage workers—street vendors, paid domestic helpers, construction workers, and sanitation workers—are particularly vulnerable to climatic extremes, according to the International Labour Organization’s report “Work in a Changing Climate.”
• The situation is exacerbated by energy poverty, as these workers often live without cooling facilities such as ventilated spaces, fans, air conditioners, or coolers.
• Additionally, greenery and other natural cooling methods are increasingly scarce in dense urban areas.
• Water scarcity and power fluctuations further complicate efforts to stay hydrated and comfortable.
• In rural India, the situation is equally severe. Consider the daily routine of a woman in a heatwave-affected rural area: she starts her morning cooking with biomass over a hot stove, enduring significant health risks.
• With 56.8% of rural Indian families cooking with biomass (NFHS-5), this public health hazard is widespread.
• Women in these areas also face longer working hours under heat stress. If she performs home-based work in a living space with asbestos or tin roofing, temperatures can become unbearable, making labor unsafe.
• Additionally, restrictive gender norms on mobility and clothing can force her to stay indoors and follow non-heat-friendly dress codes.
• Conversely, if she works outdoors, such as in MGNREGA projects, she is exposed to the scorching sun.
• Prolonged exposure to heatwaves also negatively impacts crop yields, determining whether poor rural women live in hunger and poverty.

Unequal Health Strain:

• The incidence of heat-related diseases is rising with increasing temperatures. Heat stress puts significant strain on the body, making it harder to regulate temperature, leading to illnesses such as heat cramps, severe heat stroke, and hyperthermia.
• Women are at greater risk due to their physiological makeup—body fat percentage, water content levels, and hormonal changes associated with menstrual cycles and pregnancy affect heat tolerance and hydration.
• Women bear a dual burden from heat-related health issues since they are more susceptible to its effects and shoulder the majority of caregiving responsibilities that follow.
• Additionally, heat stress significantly impacts maternal and child health. The increase in preterm delivery, miscarriage, and stillbirths due to heat strain is particularly concerning in India, given its higher maternal mortality rates.
• The burden on women becomes evident as India grapples with soaring temperatures. Millions continue to suffer from worsening heat-related losses with no relief in sight.

Conclusion:

Strengthening their resilience to heat strain is crucial—climate-friendly urban planning, development and access to sustainable cooling technologies, a fair division of care work, and public provisioning of essential services should be immediate priorities. Addressing the social power gradient that determines women’s capacity to face this crisis is also essential for any discussion on adaptation and resilience.