Global Climate Impacts: Where Is Climate Change Affecting the World This Week?
From Southeast Asia to Central America, every corner of the world is experiencing temperatures made 3-5x more likely by climate change
In this week’s Global Climate Dispatch, we’re covering a wide array of topics, ranging from pop culture to migration to mental health across Asia, Africa, and Central America. Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index1 indicates that this week’s conditions — with temperatures up to 8°C higher than normal in southern Africa — have been made significantly more likely by human-caused climate change. In Botswana, mopane worm harvests are smaller than normal amid worsening droughts, impacting rural incomes. In Cambodia, fainting spells are now common in overheated garment factories, while fluctuating water levels and intense heat disrupt children’s education on Tonlé Sap Lake. In Thailand, dangerous temperatures led to the postponement of a K-pop megastar’s concert. Meanwhile, in Central America, climate impacts are stressing vital exports like cardamom and sea cucumbers, while sugarcane workers face life-threatening heat exposure in the fields.
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South Africa, Botswana, Namibia
Changing weather patterns are influencing migration to South Africa — Rising temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall over the past 20 years have significantly reduced water levels along the Limpopo River, which forms a natural border between Zimbabwe and South Africa. Repeated droughts and declining groundwater have left stretches of the river dry or reduced to shallow pools for extended periods each year. During last year’s agricultural season, more than one-third of the Limpopo River Basin experienced drought, creating a series of shallow crossings that people can easily walk across during the summer. As the river dries, smuggling networks have moved their crossings to the exposed riverbeds.
Migrants are often driven from their homes by crop failures, livestock deaths, economic hardship, and collapsing water supplies. They pay guides about USD 80 each to help them cross, while a fraction of the payment is used to bribe security agents. Once in South Africa, migrants typically take low-wage jobs in agriculture, wildlife tourism, and informal mining. Although research suggests migrants create complementary employment opportunities for South Africans, many local residents perceive migrants as competitors for jobs and scarce resources. This perception leads to employers exploiting migrants, paying them significantly lower wages than South African citizens receive for the same work. It also exacerbates community tensions, sometimes leading to violent xenophobic incidents as residents blame migrants for taking jobs, straining public services, and reducing access to limited water supplies.
Climate change has led to a drastic decline in mopane worms in Botswana — Mopane worms have been a reliable source of food and income across the country, but a harsh drought late last year — combined with temperatures that exceeded 40°C — dried out mopane trees and caused most caterpillars to die before reaching harvest size. Collectors used to gather tons of worms at once, but now find just a few 50-kilogram bags, despite travelling hundreds of kilometers. This decline in yield has reduced incomes and for most people, the cost of the trip wasn’t worth it. A typical harvest trip can cost around 2,500 pula (USD 180) in food, fuel, and gear. Under normal conditions, each 50 kg sack of dried worms would bring in just over 3,000 pula (USD 220), meaning a typical harvest would bring in significantly more than the cost of the trip. This year, some harvesters earned no more than 9,000 pula (around USD 650) in total, compared with the roughly 1,961 pula (USD 140) that an average farm worker makes in a month.
A recent modelling study found that, under even moderate warming scenarios, over half of their suitable habitat could disappear within the next few decades. Climate change has driven much of this collapse, but it isn’t the only threat to mopane habitat. Decades of clearing trees for fuelwood and commercial harvesting have already destroyed large swaths of woodland, and changing predator patterns make it even harder for the remaining caterpillars to survive.
Mopane worms are a symbol of both tradition and survival for many communities in Botswana. They can supply more than 75% of the daily protein requirement (in South Africa, they are eaten up to five times per week), and their cultural significance is immortalized on the Botswana 5-pula coin.
Amid all the weather extremes that devastate people living in southern Africa, a recent survey among 1,200 people in Botswana carried out in July 2024 found that less than half understood the concept of global warming and climate change. Those who went to university were roughly twice as likely to grasp these concepts. Among the minority who did understand, it was reported that rising temperatures and inconsistent rainfall are significantly impacting life by drying up crops, intensifying heat stress, and straining water supplies. They attributed these changes to human activities alongside natural variability, and just over half placed responsibility on governments, corporations, and people outside Botswana.
Limpopo, South Africa by Fure Mael via flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Cambodia, Thailand
Climate change-driven weather extremes continue to impact access to education for children globally — On Tonlé Sap Lake in Cambodia, children live in floating houses and rely on boats to get to school every morning. Children from these villages don’t attend school until they know how to swim, meaning they often start their schooling later in life than other children. Due to recent disrupted weather patterns, changing water levels are making the already dangerous journey even more difficult, preventing many disadvantaged students from attending regularly. Longer than usual dry seasons lead to dusty, arid conditions that make meningitis more likely to spread, while extreme heat puts children at risk of fainting on their way to school. Meanwhile, periods of heavy rain and strong winds increase flu transmission and raise the risk of accidents on the school boat.
Beyond school, families in these floating villages also face growing economic hardship. Most rely on fishing for income, but worsening droughts during the dry season have reduced fish catches, while the wet season now brings destructive floods that damage their homes. These pressures often prevent children from staying in school — parents may pull them out to join long fishing trips, and unstable incomes mean education is often the first expense to be cut. Although it can be difficult for Cambodian authorities to reach some of these remote communities, many locals and NGOs are doing their part to ease the financial burden for access to schooling and healthcare by providing new boats and scholarships.
Excessive heat is becoming more common across Cambodia, leaving those working in garment factories particularly vulnerable — In Phnom Penh, more than 57,000 workers in garment factories — many producing goods for major global brands — are regularly exposed to dangerous temperatures that exceed already extreme outdoor heat. Many of these factories lack air conditioning, and broken or ineffective fans often fail to provide adequate ventilation. Previous reports from the Y&W garment factory show that up to 15 workers per month became too weak to continue working, with some collapsing and requiring hospitalization. Even outside the hottest months, fainting and heat-related illness are common, and despite heat standards implemented in factories, fainting still occurs. Workers frequently report feeling dizziness, fatigue, and lightheadedness, which worsen after long shifts, insufficient nutrition, and little rest. Although some of Cambodia’s thousands of fainting incidents each year are blamed on other factors like pesticides, medical staff and government agencies most often cite heat, malnutrition, and poor ventilation at garment factories as the cause (Rob Davis, ProPublica).
These conditions could worsen with climate change. Temperatures in Cambodia have increased by nearly 0.2℃ per decade since the mid-20th century, with more rapid increases occurring during the dry season. By the 2090s, Cambodia could experience warming of over 3℃, significantly increasing heat risks for workers in already dangerous environments.
Dangerous temperatures are also disrupting pop culture and live entertainment — In early July, K-pop icon G-DRAGON postponed his highly anticipated concert in Bangkok due to Thailand’s record-breaking heat. The show was originally scheduled for August 2nd at the outdoor Rajamangala National Stadium, but was canceled in anticipation of the heat and amid concern for fan safety. Recent heat indices across Thailand, including in Bangkok and Phuket, have reached “very dangerous” levels, with humidity-adjusted temperatures soaring above 50°C. These conditions pose serious health risks, particularly for the elderly and people with preexisting conditions.
This isn’t the first event disrupted by heat, but climate-driven temperature extremes are now a growing reason for cancellations worldwide. Within the past 24 hours, a race in Wales was stopped shortly after it started due to hot temperatures on Eryri and Yr Wyddfa. Over the weekend, a dog show at Stratford Park in Gloucestershire was canceled due to heat considered unsafe for dogs. And a few weeks ago in the United States, several high school graduation ceremonies were disrupted or moved due to extreme heat — in some cases, with hundreds of attendees falling ill.
Cambodia school trip by timmarec via flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador
Extreme weather that is influenced by climate change is impacting both the price and availability of cardamom in Guatemala and India — Guatemala is the world’s leading exporter of cardamom, but has faced hurricanes in 2020 and extreme heat and severe drought in the years since then. These weather events drastically reduced flower development on cardamom plants, causing harvests to decline by nearly 50% while prices tripled. In India, drought and unseasonal rains impacted cardamom production in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Additionally, the erratic weather triggered pest infestations that led to widespread plant stress and mortality. Extended dry spells have also stunted plant growth, while heavy rains and flooding have created ideal conditions for fungal growth. Some producers have begun planting at higher elevations and adopting practices like agroforestry or drought-tolerant varieties, but widespread adaptation is limited by poverty, lack of infrastructure, and limited access to technical support.
Cardamom is also known as “green gold” in Guatemala, and is among the country’s top agricultural exports by value. It is a primary cash crop for more than 300,000 smallholder farmers, many of whom rely on it as a sole source of their income. Because of the increasing pest infestations and fungal growth, resulting from the changing weather conditions, producers are facing rising costs for fertilizers, pest control, irrigation, and transportation. Some have tried to expand their cultivation areas to offset declining yields, but this has only added to production costs. At the same time, demand for cardamom continues to rise, driven by its growing popularity in specialty foods, coffee, and wellness products.
Youth are increasingly at risk because of climate change — A recent study found that youth and adolescents in Guatemala, along with Bangladesh and Nigeria, are facing severe physical and mental health effects as a result of climate change. Young people in these countries reported rising cases of malnutrition, respiratory illnesses, and waterborne diseases linked to extreme weather events like droughts, floods, and heat waves. These disruptions also made it harder to access education and healthcare and, in many cases, led to increased food insecurity and school dropouts. The spread of monoculture farming in Guatemala was seen by some youth as a factor worsening food insecurity, displacing small farmers and threatening local diets. Girls and young women were particularly vulnerable, with climate shocks contributing to early marriage, gender-based violence, and loss of access to reproductive health services.
In Guatemala, girls said they sometimes moved in with boyfriends to ease the burden on their families, but this often led to unsafe or unstable living conditions and increased risk of abuse. Youth linked rising harassment to the arrival of outside laborers who came to work on large farms, saying it made local girls feel unsafe. Especially in Bangladesh and Guatemala, girls reported that they faced challenges maintaining menstrual hygiene and lacked privacy when they were stuck in shelters. They were unable to purchase pads, and had to use cloth which was difficult to clean. Across all three countries, adolescents described growing anxiety, hopelessness, and frustration about their futures, especially as they saw fewer opportunities and little support from local institutions.
Rising ocean temperatures offshore Belize are disrupting sea cucumber reproduction and survival — Climate change is driving up ocean temperatures globally, and the warmer waters have a significant impact on the atmosphere and marine ecosystems. The warmer waters impair the reproductive cycles of tropical sea cucumbers, which typically spawn during cooler, dry-season months. As ocean temperatures rise year-round, these animals face reduced reproductive success, higher mortality, and diminished recovery between seasons. Research has shown that heat stress in sea cucumbers can impact metabolic activity, decrease food uptake, and disrupt energy balance. They are also sensitive to changes in pH, and as carbon emissions contribute significantly to ocean acidification, concerns for sea cucumber populations throughout the tropics are rising.
Sea cucumbers play a crucial role in their environment. They feed on detritus and recycle nutrients from the sea floor, and help to oxygenate sediments, balance pH levels, and sustain coral reefs and seagrass beds. Sea cucumbers are also a huge export for Belize and support the livelihoods of fishers, but the industry is also under stress from overharvesting and the longer-term effects of climate change, including warming seas and habitat degradation.
Outdoor workers in Central America are becoming increasingly impacted by heat — Studies over the past few years in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua have found that outdoor laborers, particularly sugarcane workers, are being exposed to dangerous levels of heat. These workers are often laboring in conditions where the wet bulb globe temperature (WGBT) exceeds 27°C, sometimes above 29°C, which are associated with serious health risks. Workers who engaged in physically intense tasks demonstrated high metabolic rates and frequently reached core body temperatures above 38°C during their shifts. Nearly half of the sugarcane cutters exceeded these temperatures despite hydration and rest breaks. This sustained level of heat exposure is associated with elevated heart rates and has been linked to impaired kidney function. Around 30% of workers had higher body temperatures after leaving the fields, meaning that they were struggling to cool down at home, likely due to poor housing conditions such as unventilated tin roofs with no fans. In more extreme cases, body temperatures continued to rise into the night, suggesting that current safety measures are insufficient under intensifying climate conditions.
The sugarcane industry is one of the leading economic sectors in Central America. It contributes nearly 3% of the national GDP in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala, and employs almost a million people each harvest season. Behind this economic driver are the laborers, many of whom perform grueling physical work in rising temperatures. These workers are the backbone of the region’s sugar economy, enabling the production and export of a commodity that sustains the national income and rural employment. Yet, they face significant health risks due to extreme heat and poor recovery conditions that will only worsen with climate change.
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Locations featured are chosen based on data from Climate Central's Climate Shift Index map. Some graphics used may also come from Climate Central's Climate Shift Index map. Any original analyses contained in this blog or any views expressed in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are solely the expression of its authors and are unaffiliated with Climate Central or any other entity or person referenced within.