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Women in wars
Living Voices survey, conducted by the Women Building Bridges Initiative, reveals what women in Ukraine and Russia want.
19 November 2024
Main image: Woman with baby in displaced persons camp, Juba, South Sudan
Women in South Sudan face greater health risks in heatwaves made more dangerous by human-caused climate change, a rapid study has found.
The study by World Weather Attribution found the February heatwave in South Sudan, which saw dozens of students collapsing from heat stroke, was made about 10 times more likely by human-caused climate change.
It warns that burning fossil fuels will continue to worsen inequality experienced by women and girls.
‘Climate change impacts are not gender neutral. Gendered climate change impacts are a result of existing societal inequities. Whether its questions of migration, mobility, livelihoods, education, women and girls continue to bear disproportionate impacts globally.
‘Recurrent disasters make it harder to cope, adapt and recover. In the Global South, this vicious cycle often places a never-ending debt burden and we see increased responsibilities and hardships for women such as caregiving, reduced work particularly in the informal sector and walking longer distances for water.
‘Increasing research clearly shows how women’s health is drastically impacted, including loss of wellbeing in many contexts.’
DR EMMANUEL RAJU
Director, Copenhagen Centre for Disaster Research, University of Copenhagen
The analysis found that jobs and household chores typically done by women expose them to dangerous temperatures and increase the risk they will suffer heat-related illness.
School closures during heatwaves disrupt children’s education overall and make it even harder for girls to access and continue learning.
Climate change made the heatwave at least 10 times more likely and 2°C hotter.
Similar heatwaves are now common events due to fossil fuel warming, and are expected to occur in today’s climate once every two years.
‘Climate change means dangerous 40°C plus heatwaves are becoming the new normal in South Sudan.
‘Once rare, these episodes of high temperatures are occurring every two years, posing huge challenges for people in South Sudan, and particularly women, as our study has shown.
‘Without a rapid transition to a world without fossil fuels, heatwaves will continue to get even more dangerous.’
DR SARAH KEW
World Weather Attribution researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
South Sudan has experienced intense heat with temperatures above 40°C since late February. In the capital city Juba, dozens of students collapsed from heat exposure, prompting the government to close schools for two weeks from February 20.
Most schools in the country are built with iron roofs that trap heat and do not have air conditioning, creating very hot conditions for students. High temperatures are expected to persist throughout March.
The study analysed the role of climate change in the heatwave, as well as the conditions on the ground that worsened the impacts of the extreme heat, particularly focusing on the conditions experienced by girls and women.
‘Students collapsing from the extreme heat shows just how dangerous and concerning this heatwave has been.
‘Climate change is clearly making life even harder in South Sudan, a country already facing economic challenges and periods of instability, where very few children finish primary education.
‘Improving ventilation, planting trees and painting schools lighter colours can help reduce temperatures in classrooms, while adapting the school calendar and class schedules can help avoid severe disruptions to education.’
DR KISWENDSIDA GUIGMA
Climate scientist at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre in Burkina Faso
The authors found that heatwaves have a disproportionate impact on women in South Sudan.
Heat-related school closures increase the likelihood they won’t return, as they are expected to take on household chores such as collecting water and preparing food, the authors say.
These tasks expose women to higher temperatures, raising their risk of suffering heatstrokes and other heat-related illnesses.
Intensifying heatwaves also increase the chance of miscarriage and stillbirths, making pregnancy and childbirth even more dangerous in South Sudan, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with 1,223 women dying for every 100,000 births.
Climate change, caused primarily by the burning of oil, gas and coal, intensified the extreme heat in February.
The combined analysis of weather data and climate models found that human-caused warming made the seven-day February heatwave 2°C more intense and 10 times more likely.
‘This study shows once more that people who are already struggling under unequal conditions experience the most harm from extreme weather worsened by the burning of fossil fuels.
‘Unyielding gender roles, the need to care for children and a lack of other options than exposing themselves to excruciating heat, means that in war-torn South Sudan, each of the now frequent heatwaves hits women more, deepening the divide between the genders.
‘Globally, we know that women are more likely to die during extreme weather events, and more likely to experience food shortages and violence after them.
‘To reduce the impacts of climate change, we need to reduce inequality and stop burning fossil fuels.’
DR FRIEDERIKE OTTO
Co-lead of World Weather Attribution and senior lecturer in Climate Science at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London
The researchers noted that these results conservative, as real world meteorological data show higher temperature increases than what climate models simulate.
Because of climate change, similarly intense heatwaves are no longer rare events in South Sudan, according to the analysis.
In today’s climate, with 1.3°C of human-caused global warming, similar extreme heat events in February can be expected about once a decade.
If warming reaches 2.6°C, which is expected by 2100 unless countries rapidly move away from fossil fuels, similar heatwaves are expected to occur every year.
The study was conducted by 17 researchers as part of the World Weather Attribution group, including scientists from universities and meteorological agencies in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Mexico, Chile, the United States and the United Kingdom.
‘Just last year, floods in South Sudan displaced more than 60,000 people, wiped out crops, and drove outbreaks of malaria and cholera. Now, the country faces weeks of extremely dangerous heat.
‘Sadly, this is another example of an African country getting hit by back-to-back extreme weather events.
‘The continent has contributed a tiny fraction of global emissions, but is bearing the brunt of climate change. Without a rapid transition away from fossil fuels and enhanced support for adaptation and addressing losses and damages, millions more people across Africa will face even worse heat, floods, and disease.’
DR JOYCE KIMUTAI
World Weather Attribution researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London
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New UNICEF, Plan International and UN Women report reveals 30 years of uneven progress for adolescent girls.
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