In hottest city on Earth, mothers bear brunt of climate change

Last month Jacobabad became the hottest city on Earth. Women are especially vulnerable to rising temperatures in poor countries on the frontlines of climate change because many have little choice but to work through their pregnancies and soon after giving birth, according to interviews with more than a dozen female residents in the Jacobabad area as well as half a dozen development and human rights experts.

Razia, 25, and her six-month-old daughter Tamanna, sit in front of a fan to cool off during a heatwave, in Jacobabad, Pakistan. (Source: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

Heavily Pregnant, Sonari, collects muskmelons during a heatwave, at a farm on the outskirts of Jacobabad, Pakistan, May 17, 2022. "When the heat is coming and we're pregnant, we feel stressed," said Sonari who is in her 20s and works alongside about a dozen other women, several of them pregnant, in the melon fields about 10 km from Jacobabad's centre. They begin work each day at 6 a.m. with a short afternoon break for housework and cooking before returning to the field to work until sundown. They describe leg pains, fainting episodes and discomfort while breastfeeding. (Source: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

A woman drinks a plum and tamarind drink to cool off during a heatwave, in Jacobabad, Pakistan. (Source: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

People in a rickshaw carry a solar panel, during a heatwave, in Jacobabad, Pakistan. (Source: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

A grandmother visits her grandson while he sleeps, during a heatwave, at the Jacobabad Institute of Medical Sciences (JIMS), Jacobabad, Pakistan. Jacobabad's roughly 200,000 residents are well aware of their reputation as one of the world's hottest cities. "If we go to hell, we'll take a blanket," is a common joke told in the area. (Source: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

Rabia fans her son, Manish Kumar, 10, as he lies in bed after having a bladder stone removed, during a heatwave, at Civil Hospital, Jacobabad, Pakistan, May 15, 2022. Few places are more punishing. Last month, temperatures hit 51 Celsius (124 Fahrenheit) on May 14, which local meteorological officials was highly unusual for that time of year. (Source: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

Gulam Mohammad, 37, a vegetable seller, sprays water from his mouth to cool off his chicken, during a heatwave, in Jacobabad, Pakistan, May 15, 2022. (Source: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

Zahida, 16, washes clothes during a heatwave, outside her two-room family home, in Jacobabad, Pakistan, May 16, 2022. For every 1 degree Celsius in temperature rise, the number of stillbirths and premature deliveries increases by about 5%, according to the meta-analysis, which was carried out by several research institutions globally and published in the British Medical Journal in September 2020. (Source: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

Women and children wash themselves after work at a muskmelon farm, during a heatwave, at a hand pump on the outskirts of Jacobabad, Pakistan. (Source: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

Kaloo, 60, repairs a fan with a spoon while at work in a cafe, during a heatwave, in Jacobabad, Pakistan. (Source; REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

A father and his son fill water canisters from a private pump to sell door-to-door, during a heatwave, at residential area in Jacobabad, Pakistan. (Source: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)

Liza Khan, 22, project manager at the Community Development Foundation (CDF), walks to her office in Jacobabad, Pakistan, May 18, 2022. "It feels like no one sees them, no one cares about them," Khan said more broadly about the plight facing many women in Jacobabad and the wider Sindh region. "Nowadays I'm working 24/7," she said. (Source: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)