Boiling Frogs

The Heat is on

‘Lovely morning’ we say cheerfully, as we step out to enjoy the early clear skies and comforting warmth of a 2025 summer’s day. ‘And nice to have a bit of a breeze.’ And then, five or six hours later, when the air is still and temperatures have risen to 30 plus, our tune begins to change and all our efforts to cool down fail dismally. The pavements are too hot for dogs to walk on, the plants are parched, burnt skin begins to peel and water levels drop.

Nasty things happen in the heat. Over in Mexico, dehydrated and exhausted monkeys are falling lifelessly from the trees. Bats and flying foxes in Australia also plummet to the ground and are lucky if they are rescued and rehydrated. Molluscs and barnacles attached to rocky coastlines off Vancouver Island cannot move to cooler waters, so bake to death in their millions.

And human beings, trying to work and earn a living in the heat – what of them? Workers preparing food in sweltering kitchens, or labouring in poly tunnels growing salads for those who can afford them or battling the heat of construction sites and sweatshops – there are so many people in so many different settings, getting no respite and often wearing unsuitable protective clothing. Little or no attention is paid to how they might cope in the heat

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'Extreme heat is also workplace violence'

This was the slogan written on banners in Barcelona last month following the death of a street cleaner. Montse Aguilar, a 51-year-old woman had been working outside in temperatures of up to 35 degrees, wearing an official green polyester uniform. She had complained about feeling unwell, collapsed when she went home and could not be revived. The incident generated fury in Spain with street cleaners demanding more appropriate clothing and better working conditions.

Writing about the incident, journalist John Harris described how extreme heat is affecting workers throughout the world, pointing out that although some countries such as Belgium do have protective legislation, Britain is moving too slowly on this. It is worrying that we currently have ‘guidance’ for the minimum temperature for working conditions (16 degrees) but there is no equivalent guidance for a maximum temperature. As John Harris says, this is ironic, given the likelihood of increases in retirement age:

‘Human frailty, we are told, must be no barrier to getting a job. As evidenced by new rumblings about the pension age being raised to 68, the same logic is being applied to people in what used to be considered old age – which is precisely when sensitivity to heat can become fatal. This is an aspect of climate denial that is still completely overlooked…’

Women and heat

Extreme heat is a huge global risk to health, causing heat exhaustion, cramps, heat stroke, headaches, dehydration, blood clots and death. As intense heatwaves become more common, research projects are increasingly looking at the capacity of human beings to endure heat and humidity.

About half a million people a year die from heat related causes, and mortality is higher in women. A study of healthy adults by Penn State University found that older women (40+) are physiologically more vulnerable to heat. Researcher Olivia Leach noted that:

‘Age and biological sex are the two most important factors that can predict whether a healthy adult would be at more risk from heat and humidity’

There are of course millions of women who are not the ‘healthy adults’ of these western research projects. They are women who have no protection against the heat in their everyday lives because of limited, or non-existent access to water, ventilation, shaded areas, and electricity.

The Nexus of Heat, Health and Gender , by Kathleen Euler, notes how women in large parts of the world are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat. The gender roles expected of them affect their access to education, income and resources. As well as working in low paid jobs, often as agricultural or factory workers, they may also have caring responsibilities for other vulnerable groups like the young and the elderly. Heatwaves can endanger pregnant women, putting them at risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and pre-eclampsia as well as long-term damage to reproductive and mental health.

Because women are under-represented in positions of power, it can be difficult for them to influence policy makers. But women have local knowledge and can be crucial agents of change. There have been some initiatives, in Sierra Leone and Karachi, for example, to create cooling areas, with shade and water, and several countries have appointed women as Heat Officers.

Bushra Afreen, a former Chief Heat Officer in Dhaka, has emphasised the importance of using local voices:

‘The people who are most affected by heat are not just victims. They have critical knowledge that is so essential to creating the most sustainable solutions’

Looking back

During the middle of the last century, heatwaves tended to be opportunities for the media to go into ecstasies about jolly days at the seaside, as well as indulging in a bit of casual sexism about beachwear and ‘bathing beauties.’ Ridiculous songs like the one about a yellow polka dot bikini, were popular, and ‘saucy’ seaside postcards with grotesque caricatures were available in most holiday resorts (actually they still are, in some places).

Earlier, in the 1900s, a lot of emphasis was placed upon ‘protecting women’, not from the heat but from themselves, by ensuring that their swimwear was ‘modest’. In America, a number of cities banned women’s one-piece swimming costumes and bare legs. Swimsuit Police patrolled to check for compliance. In the 1920s Chicago employed a tailor to make on- the-spot alterations – necessary apparently because otherwise ‘…our city’s beaches would have looked like a second Garden of Eden’ in the opinion of the constable in charge.

More could be written about what might now seem to be naïve responses to heat waves, given the grim position of today. BUT - we still rejoice at a hot and sunny day, we still flock to the seaside and we still indulge in air conditioners that harm the environment. Are we just like those hypothetical boiling frogs, who only notice the temperature change when it’s too late to do anything about it?

AUGUST UPDATE ON THE MK FAWCETT CAMPAIGN FOR A SAFER, HEALTHIER, FAIRER MILTON KEYNES

• The update of background papers with baseline evidence of the need for making MK Safer, Healthier and Fairer, will be ready to disseminate in the Autumn.
• We are planning to meet with our three Milton Keynes MPs again in October; they have all shown support for the manifesto 
• All political parties who may stand candidates in next year’s local elections have been reminded of the importance of seeking, and supporting, women candidates 
• We continue to engage with MKCC officers over the draft Domestic Abuse strategy 
• In September we will be attending a meeting at the Centre for Protecting Women Online (CPWO) to discuss the opportunities to develop a SafeCity project in Milton Keynes, led by the Red Dot Foundation 
• We will also represent MK Fawcett at the first annual conference of the CPWO in September at the Open University campus 
• We are now regularly attending and reporting on the stakeholder events arranged by the BLMK Women’s Health Network to better understand what advances in service provision are being made to address inequality in women’s health
• MKF now has a Linkedin presence as well as BlueSky. Please follow us on these platforms as well as at www.fawcettmk.org.uk
• We were thrilled to welcome Penny East, the new CEO of the Fawcett Society to a recent group meeting for a constructive discussion on support for our local work
• We will continue to promote the manifesto campaign and encourage people to become more involved with the political process
• We are co-organising the 6th Annual Orange and White Ribbon Vigil on 25th November. This year the organising team are collaborating with local creative crafters, the centre:mk and Milton Keynes College students to produce a thought provoking photographic exhibition on the themes of #WeSpeakUp and #NoExcuse and #ACTtoEndViolence. The exhibition will be opened at 5.30pm on 25th November in the centre:mk before a procession to the Milton Keynes Rose for the Annual Torchlit Vigil. The exhibition will run for 16 Days until 10th December. If you are a local creative and would like to take part - see here for details