The Politics of Extreme Heat in Urban South Asia

Home to a quarter of the world’s population, South Asia is at the forefront of extreme heat. The politics of extreme heat in South Asia involves the social implications of its effects on poor and vulnerable populations, especially those living in urban low-income and informal settlements. In Pakistan, extreme heat is the most overlooked dynamic in the broader discourse on climate change. Unless we recognize how histories of exclusion have shaped the present-day context in cities like Karachi, the risk management of extreme heat will remain only a partial response, at best.