As one environmental disaster after another hammers the planet and wreaks chaos, the impact of climate change has never been felt in such intense volume before, as in the 21st century. Today, global warming, rising sea levels, droughts, and extreme temperatures have increased the frequency and severity of natural disasters, exacerbating the sufferings of millions of people.
According to a UN report, people who are already most vulnerable and marginalised experience the disproportionate impact of climate change. The report also noted that the impact of climate change on gender is not the same.
It read, “Women are increasingly being seen as more vulnerable than men to the impacts of climate change, mainly because they represent the majority of the world's poor and are proportionally more dependent on threatened natural resources.”
BOOM spoke to experts who explained how women are more vulnerable to climate change than men, as their gynecological health inadvertently ends up suffering, while balancing familial responsibilities along with their outdoor jobs.
Menstrual health woes
Speaking to BOOM, Dr Punita Hasija, a Faridabad-based gynecologist said that owing to the sudden rise in global temperatures in recent years, menstrual health of women is impacted as their periods become irregular.
Apart from this, a recent trend of early menarche has also been noticed due to climate change. “In earlier decades, say in the 70s and 80s, the menarcheal age was 14-15 years, however, now we see even 10 year olds have begun menstruating,” said Hasija. The same has been highlighted in a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Menarche is the beginning of the menstrual cycle in females, while menopause is the ending phase of the menstrual cycle in females.
Hasija further explained, “If a woman gets an early menarche, naturally she would have an early menopause. Menopause leads to a decrease in estrogen production due to which women's bodies are less able to retain calcium from dietary sources.”
Estrogen, a hormone secreted by the ovaries, plays an important role in the normal sexual and reproductive development in women. Its levels decline after menopause.
Natural disasters such as cyclones also magnify infections in women. According to Hasija, maintaining menstrual hygiene is anyway difficult in normal times, but during floods and disasters it is aggravated manifold.
She said, “In face of calamities like these, women are displaced to take shelter in camps where their menstrual health becomes the lowest priority. Filthy toilets and dearth of menstrual hygiene products like sanitary napkins leads to severe vaginal and urinary tract infection in menstruating women.”
The infection, Hasija said, could also reach up to the reproductive organs and meddle with fertility in women. “Vaginal infection can lead to the blockage of fallopian tubes and infection in the endometrium (the inner lining of your uterus). This lends to problems while conceiving in women.”
Climate Change and Pregnancy
BOOM spoke to Dr. Vikas Kaushal of Bal Raksha Bharat, an NGO that advocates for women’s health, who explained how the impact of climate change, especially heatwave, is severe on pregnant women. A report by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention also states that heat exhaustion and heat stroke are more common in pregnant women.
Kaushal explained that those who are expecting are more susceptible to heat-related disorders since their bodies are adjusting to keep the developing foetus and themselves cool. “Additionally, they are more likely to be dehydrated, which means they will sweat less, which is harmful because sweating is an essential part of the body’s cooling process,” he said.
He further pointed out that pregnant women in low- and middle-income nations may be especially vulnerable, “partly due to the fact that these women may have to work beyond their heat tolerance limits, even in late pregnancy, and are less equipped to protect themselves from extreme heat.”
Lately, we've been experiencing unprecedented rainfall and floods, resulting in a surge of vector-borne diseases. According to Kaushal, pregnant women are the major risk group in this case because “their immune system is modulated during pregnancy and a unique physiological state is established and a single infection can endanger not one but two lives.”
Certain hormones involved in pregnancy may also affect immune responses, potentially making pregnant women more susceptible to infections transmitted by vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks and flies, he added.
Socio-Economic Factors and Women's Increased Vulnerability
According to Gulrez Shah Azhar, an independent health researcher based in Seattle, USA, the living conditions and the socio-economic condition of women make them more vulnerable to climate change.
Azhar had been a part of a group which conducted a study, in the aftermath of the 2010 heat wave in Ahmedabad and found that significantly more women than men had died. “Owing to the deplorable state of the slums, where there are no toilets nor any availability of water, the women living there are affected disproportionately during heatwaves,” he said.
These slums which have tin sheets for roof, get engulfed in smoke coming out of the clay stove, making them unbearable during extreme summers. The only source of cool air remains a ceiling fan, which can be unreliable due to inconsistent electricity supply. Moreover, the traditional Indian attire, a six-yard long sari, wrapped several times around the body, can turn into a heat trap for some women, according to Azhar.
Azhar also said that the women intentionally keep themselves dehydrated which results in serious physiological effects. Explaining the reason behind this, he said, “As they have to go to obscure toilets far from their dwellings, they prefer relieving themselves either early in the morning or late at night, therefore they drink limited water during the day.”
Thus, the impact of indoor heat on women in particular is amplified by these factors, making them extremely vulnerable.