This paper from SPRF India discusses how heatwaves, exacerbated by global warming, are impacting the productivity and health of India's blue-collar workers. It essentially explains the need to focus on intersectionality when we talk about sustainable development: not everyone is equally affected. The paper is concluded with some policy suggestions as well. Read here: https://sprf.in/heat-stress-labour-well-being-and-productivity-amidst-heat-waves/

As a deadly heatwave engulfed Europe, the first question to pop up in my mind was "It's a rather cold area where Air Conditioning is rare, how will Europeans cope with the heatwave?". This article from TIME discusses this subject from UK's perspective. Less than 5% of homes in the UK are air-conditioned. Because of the old age of most homes in the UK, retrofitting these houses for AC is a hard task. Moreover, ACs will only provide temporary relief from a heatwave, as in the long run, it will significantly add to the carbon emissions and exacerbate the heat. Air-conditioning systems pump out carbon emissions that contribute to climate change, while the production of new units requires the environmentally destructive extraction of rare metals. To achieve its target of net zero, the U.K. government should, according to Mordak, be reconfiguring buildings and cities to promote “passive” methods of cooling—insulation, shading and tree planting—rather than energy-guzzling cooling systems. You can read the article here.

Architecture is, to a great extent, defined by local conditions including culture, climate, etc. This article from TIME talks about how post-liberalization India made a sharp shift toward Western Architecture due to perceived aesthetics, ease of construction, and students returning from studying abroad. However, this shift didn't recognize the fact that native architecture had evolved over centuries and was in itself an adaptation measure in the context of the local climate. Housing in India is now not resilient to rising temperatures and is hence, exacerbating the impact of global warming and heatwaves. "The shift away from climate-specific architecture hasn’t only affected offices and luxury flats, whose owners can afford to cool them. To maximize urban space and budgets, a massive government housing program launched in 2015 has relied largely on concrete frames and flat roofs, which absorb more heat throughout the day than sloped roofs." Link to the article: https://time.com/6176998/india-heatwaves-western-architecture/