Many communities in tropical and subtropical regions consistently endure high temperatures, and people in mid to high latitudes face seasonal exposure to excessive heat. The factors contributing to individual heat vulnerability in adults, mainly physiological or clinical, are well-documented.
The urban and rural poor frequently encounter higher heat levels due to inadequate housing and limited access to cooling resources. Due to construction materials, informal settlements are generally significantly warmer than other urban locations. Further, gender can substantially influence heat exposure, such as when women in some cultures predominantly handle indoor cooking during hot periods.
Heat impacts health through both direct and indirect pathways. However, research on the effects of prolonged exposure to high temperatures and humidity remains limited. In many occupational environments, outdoor and manual workers, athletes, and civil protection personnel are more susceptible to heat stress.
Infographic: Main heat vulnerability factors
More in the next news post about heat, health, climate change, and climate risk…
References
- Lancet Countdown: Heat-related Mortality. 2023. https://lancetcountdown.org/explore-our-data
- Zhao et al., 2021 Global, regional, and national burden of mortality associated with non-optimal ambient temperatures from 2000 to 2019: a three-stage modeling study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34245712/
- Heat-related mortality in Europe during the summer of 2022 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02419-z
- Hot weather and heat extremes: health risks. The Lancet. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01208-3/fulltext
© 2025 WHO.
(Source: www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-heat-and-health)
ClimaTwin® is a B2B SaaS solution that empowers stakeholders to assess the physical and financial impacts of future weather and climate extremes on infrastructure assets and the built environment.
Ready to get started? To learn more about how ClimaTwin can help you assess the physical and financial impacts of future weather and climate extremes on your infrastructure assets and investment portfolios, please visit www.climatwin.com today.
© 2025 ClimaTwin Corp. ClimaTwin® is a registered trademark of ClimaTwin Corp. The ClimaTwin logos, ClimaTwin Solutions™, and Future-proofing assets today for tomorrow’s climate extremes™ are trademarks of ClimaTwin Corp. All rights reserved.
###