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Informal Heat Adaptation Is Essential Work, Not a Placeholder
Key Takeaways
- A new commentary in Nature Climate Change, "Bringing justice to informal adaptation to heat stress," argues grassroots heat responses are essential rather than temporary placeholders.
- Formal adaptation includes heat action plans, cooling centers, labor regulations, and infrastructure investment; informal adaptation includes plastic-sheet shade, resting during peak heat, shared water taps, and courtyard or school cooling spaces.
- Co-author Brianna Castro, assistant professor of urban sustainability, says the two systems interact constantly and that formal programs often depend on informal networks to reach people.
- Labeling informal adaptation as temporary makes it look unworthy of investment, which disproportionately affects vulnerable communities with the least access to formal systems.
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DT Editorial Team··via phys.org