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Every summer, heat enters the news through a number: a city records 40°C, a temperature record is broken, or a heatwave warning is issued. These numbers are important, but they tell only one part of the story. A city can record an air temperature of 35°C while the surface of a nearby road is considerably hotter. Two people exposed to the same air temperature can experience very different levels of heat stress depending on whether they are standing in the sun or under a tree

A man rests on the lawn in front of Empress market – Photo by Karachi Urban Lab (KUL) In Karachi, summer heat permeates the city's fabric and shapes seasonal urban environmental inequalities, leaving its residents gasping on scorching days. This visual blog captures daily life amid the heat in Karachi’s historic neighborhood of Saddar and at the Karachi Cantonment Railway Station. It explores how some marginalized residents in the urban global South navigate everyday heat and

The subject of extreme heat, its manifestation in the everyday lives of affected people and upon the world of work is currently proliferating in the social sciences, of which this research network is itself an instantiation, though this proliferation is quite recent. The question of occupational heat, while now featuring several notable works of ethnography and qualitative research (Nading 2025; Oppermann et al.2017; 2020; Macktoom et al. 2024 among others), as well as cultur

Heat is often presented as a standalone climate issue. But for residents of low-income settlements worldwide, it is inseparable from economic stress, social inequality, and inadequate services (Hosseinzadehtalaei et al., 2025). During my fieldwork in 2024 in low-income settlements, including the Korail slum in Dhaka, I asked people about heat; the response was often laughter. “Why are you asking about heat?” they ask. “Are you serious? We do not have food to eat. Food produce

Interdisciplinarity is recognised as key when researching climate extremes, including extreme heat. This is because understanding and reducing risk from these climate extremes requires the intersection of several research areas that encompass the physical hazard and the social aspects. Extreme heat is different from other climate extremes, because the multitude of considerations aren’t always obvious from the outset.

It is April 2025, and both Cambodian cities, Phnom Penh, the capital, and Siem Reap, the tourist hub for the UNESCO World Heritage Site Angkor Wat are bustling. Despite the thermometer touching 36°C with more than 60% humidity, I still see tourists flocking around, taking the walking or tuk-tuk/car group tours continue despite the heat. To better understand the city, I decided to join one in Phnom Penh.

Ayo, standing inside an excevation pit, explains the various layers he’s coming across. “in this pit there are about four layers,” he tells us. “The bottom is scrap metal, followed by waste from the Eveready Battery Company, then a soil layer covering the waste, and finally polythene papers on the surface.” Waingo asks if Ayo has passed the ash layer while digging. Ayo shakes his head. “No, here we’re just digging on luck,” he says.