HERA

08/13/2026

For millions of informal workers in India, staying home during dangerous heat means losing income they cannot afford to lose.

“If you don’t come in, you don’t earn. It’s that simple,” Anita, an informal construction worker in Delhi, told researchers.

Extreme heat is already costing India nearly 2% of GDP each year. More than 18% of workers surveyed showed signs of long-term kidney damage—a problem researchers estimate may affect more than 26 million informal workers.

The solutions are practical: heat-triggered cash transfers that allow workers to stop working on the most dangerous days, backed by insurance during extreme years, early warnings, shade and cooling centers.

HERA’s heat-triggered cash and parametric insurance model in India provided proof of concept. Now this protection must reach workers at scale.

Lin in bio.

08/05/2026

Extreme heat is putting pregnant women and their babies at growing risk—especially women who cannot afford to stop working when temperatures become dangerous.

On Amanpour & Company, our CEO Kathy Baughman McLeod explains how HERA Materna, the world’s first heat-pregnancy insurance program, will combine insurance, cash support, early warning systems, cooling solutions, and maternal health education to help women reduce exposure, access cooling, seek medical care, or temporarily ease their workload during dangerous heat.

08/04/2026

Extreme heat is not only something people survive. It is becoming a reason they are forced to leave home.

Heat destroys crops, cuts working hours, raises the cost of water, food, electricity, and healthcare, and places growing pressure on families already living with few protections. Displacement rarely follows one heatwave. It comes after years of losses that steadily erode health, income, and hope.

In a new op-ed, HERA CEO Kathy Baughman McLeod and Shana Tabak of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace explain why migration is not adaptation when people have exhausted every other option—and how practical solutions can protect their ability to stay.

Cool roofs, shade, early warnings, worker protections, and financial tools such as parametric insurance already work. What is missing is the investment and political will to deliver them at scale.
Read “The Cost of Extreme Heat Is Displacement.” Link in bio.

08/03/2026

In Thailand, some informal women workers move their work into the night to escape daytime heat. With higher nighttime temperatures and unpaid care work continuing around the clock, their sleep disappears, and their bodies never recover.

Learn more about our new report, 'WEATHERING CHANGE: How Extreme Heat is Reshaping Women’s Lives in Thailand.’ Link in bio.

This work is possible thanks to our partnership with the Prudence Foundation.

08/01/2026

Why do you need to understand how extreme heat can affect the menstrual cycle?

Because rising temperatures may change its timing, duration, flow, and symptoms—yet menstrual health remains largely overlooked in heat research and planning.

Dr. Robyn James, HERA Heat Science Hotline’s Conservation, Gender and Community Impacts Specialist, has three decades of experience in community-based conservation, gender equity, and social justice. She holds a PhD from the University of Queensland focused on women’s leadership in conservation and climate.

In this clip, Dr. Robyn explains what women need to know—and why heat responses must account for their distinct health needs.

07/31/2026

Today, HERA launches Weathering Change: How Extreme Heat Is Reshaping Women’s Lives in Thailand.

Based on workshops, listening sessions, and focus groups we conducted with 299 women informal workers across eight provinces, the report shows that extreme heat is not one isolated health problem. It is reshaping women’s bodies, work, income, safety, families, and daily lives.

Women described miscarriages and pregnancy complications, lost income, rising household costs, heavier unpaid care work, chronic exhaustion and greater safety risks when work shifts into the night.

They are already adapting—and identifying what real protection should look like:

Practical cooling. Early warnings. Accessible healthcare. Safer workplaces. Financial protection.

The solutions must match the scale of the crisis.

Read the full report. Link in bio.

07/28/2026

07/25/2026

Does the menstrual cycle affect how the body regulates heat?

Dr. Juthamard Surapongchai, Assistant Professor at Mahidol University in Bangkok, and a physiologist on HERA’s Heat Science Hotline Board, explains the science.

The Heat Science Hotline connects journalists, policymakers and frontline organizations with leading experts who translate heat science into practical guidance.
Watch her answer.

07/23/2026

On Amanpour & Company, HERA Founder and CEO Kathy Baughman McLeod explains why the true toll of extreme heat is so often missed, how women on the frontlines are being hit hardest, and why cities must respond to a growing 24-hour threat as nights stop cooling down.

Kathy also highlights what cities can do now: cool buildings, expand shade, strengthen warning systems, and provide financial protection so women can reduce their exposure without sacrificing their income.

07/22/2026

In a recent interview with DW, Dr. Gregory Wellenius, Director of the Center for Climate and Health at Boston University and co-chair of HERA's Heat Science Hotline, shares the types of solutions urgently needed—and what cities can do to better protect people as temperatures rise.

Extreme heat is becoming more frequent, more intense and more dangerous. Practical solutions already exist, from early warning systems and cooling centers to safer infrastructure and coordinated public-health action.