{"id":777402,"date":"2026-07-30T13:27:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/?p=777402"},"modified":"2026-07-30T13:27:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:27:31","slug":"a-stifling-summer-how-extreme-heat-impacts-vulnerable-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/fr\/2026\/07\/30\/a-stifling-summer-how-extreme-heat-impacts-vulnerable-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"A Stifling Summer: How Extreme Heat Impacts Vulnerable Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was mid-morning when I arrived in Paris early this month, but the walk from the m\u00e9tro with my two suitcases left me sweaty and gasping for air. Simply being outside was exhausting; it wasn\u2019t yet afternoon and all my energy had been sapped from a ten-minute walk in the low 30s (high 80s F). Even worse, this was after much of the worst heat had abated in Paris.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This summer has already brought three record-breaking heatwaves to France, with a possible fourth on the horizon. During the last week of June, temperatures were regularly in the high 30s (high 90s F), with tremendous humidity. The last two months have been marked by warnings and even a red alert this month: a <\/span>canicule<\/span><\/i> so intense that both government and police needed to be involved. Many parks and gardens remained open at night, and people were recommended to take advantage of venues with air conditioning, take a dip in the Canal St Martin, and stay indoors during the hottest parts of the day. But escaping the heat is not as easy as simply avoiding the sun. Extreme heat like this can be lethal, and for unhoused and other vulnerable communities in the city, this is especially true.<\/span><\/p>\n

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For people experiencing homelessness, there\u2019s very little reprieve from the heat. Concrete and asphalt store heat, so even when the sun is down, many people sleeping in tents or on the ground can feel the heat of the day radiating out. Both shade and drinking water are limited, and not everyone can risk leaving their things to go to another area. Consecutive heatwaves like this are dangerous not only because of the immediate heat, but also because of the toll it takes on the body. In the heat, your body has to work harder, and if you do not have regular access to food and water, you are further susceptible to health issues. For those in some of Paris\u2019 old buildings with no air conditioning and heavy insulation, heat is trapped indoors, often worse than it is outside. High humidity can exacerbate mold, carbon monoxide poisoning, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Emergency housing, shelters, and organisations already struggle to support those in need, and extreme weather conditions like this strain the systems the city has in place. Paris opened up cooling centres, mapped water access points, and even created a system for checking on elderly, disabled, and other vulnerable groups\u2014 but notably, an in-person checkup requires an address. Many advocacy groups support by providing food, water, or even medical help, and other organisations support by allowing others to stay inside a cooler space.<\/span><\/p>\n

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As heatwaves become more frequent and intense due to climate change, access, infrastructure, and policies will need to adapt and plan how to make it through longer, hotter summers. As it is now, extreme weather disproportionately impacts the lives of those least protected and most vulnerable.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was mid-morning when I arrived in Paris early this month, but the walk from the m\u00e9tro with my two suitcases left me sweaty and gasping for air. Simply being outside was exhausting; it wasn\u2019t yet afternoon and all my energy had been sapped from a ten-minute walk in the low 30s (high 80s F). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":777403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-777402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777405,"href":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777402\/revisions\/777405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.servethecity.paris\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}