Winter Samantha C, Winter Mark R, Plaxico LaNae, Balakrishnan Anna K, Dzombo Millicent, Tabb Loni Philip, Ukoh Ebuka, Lincoln Chloe, Obara Lena Moraa, Otieno Stephanie Achieng, Muita Richard, Witte Susan S
Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Nat Clim Chang. 2024 May;14(5):462-467. doi: 10.1038/s41558-024-01983-7. Epub 2024 Apr 23.
Climate change and related extreme weather events (EWEs) are expected to widen social and health inequalities. Yet, EWE thresholds and associated adaptation strategies do not centre experiences of vulnerable communities. This study explored the impacts of temperature- and precipitation-based EWEs for women in informal settlements, whether meteorological definitions of these EWEs capture impacts and whether self-reported impacts can be used to develop impact-based thresholds. We combined meteorological data with longitudinal monthly survey data collected from September 2022 through February 2023 from a probability sample of 800 women in two informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. Findings suggest that women experience health, economic, environmental, emotional, social and property impacts; thresholds of EWEs currently used for early action and preparedness are not capturing impacts; and, while self-reported impact data may provide an excellent first step in the process of (re)defining thresholds for some EWEs (for example, precipitation-based), more research and discussions with communities are needed.
气候变化及相关极端天气事件预计会加剧社会和健康不平等。然而，极端天气事件阈值及相关适应策略并未以弱势群体的经历为核心。本研究探讨了基于温度和降水的极端天气事件对非正规住区妇女的影响，这些极端天气事件的气象定义是否涵盖了其影响，以及自我报告的影响是否可用于制定基于影响的阈值。我们将气象数据与2022年9月至2023年2月从肯尼亚内罗毕两个非正规住区的800名妇女概率样本中收集的月度纵向调查数据相结合。研究结果表明，妇女经历了健康、经济、环境、情感、社会和财产方面的影响；目前用于早期行动和准备的极端天气事件阈值并未涵盖这些影响；虽然自我报告的影响数据可能是（重新）定义某些极端天气事件（例如基于降水的事件）阈值过程中的出色第一步，但仍需要更多研究以及与社区进行讨论。
