🔗 Here is the link to the research highlight: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🔗 and the original study in Global Environmental Change: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@tsuoxford.bsky.social @oxfordgeography.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk

And here is the link to the full paper!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Thank you very much to the SSHRC-CRSH and the Canadian Centennial Scholarship Fund (CCSF) for their generous support on this work.

@oxfordgeography.bsky.social @tsuoxford.bsky.social

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We find:
•People’s adaptive responses to heatwaves vary with regional climate.
•Absolute and relative heatwave intensities condition adaptation.
•Adaptation is a dynamic process that evolves over time.
•Urban form and socio-economic disparities influence activity trade-offs during heatwaves.

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Using cell phone mobility, climate, and census data, we simultaneously model how people's everyday activities (home, work, transit, grocery/pharmacy, retail/recreation, park) change together during heatwaves across the Pacific Northwest of North America.

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This paper contextualizes heatwaves within people’s everyday lives, highlighting how daily activities and obligations condition behavioural adaptations across the Pacific Northwest of North America (British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California).

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Given that these ever-worsening heatwaves occur alongside people's daily lives, there is an urgent need to understand how people adapt and the underlying structures which influence how they can protect themselves.

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Last month alone (June 2025), extreme heat killed 2300 people across 12 major European cities, two-thirds of which are attributed to the ongoing climate crisis.

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Special thank you to @timschwanen.bsky.social for his support and insightful feedback throughout the project.

@tsuoxford.bsky.social @oxfordgeography.bsky.social

8/8

This study highlights how wide-ranging social factors mediate people's exposure and adaptive responses to heatwaves across England.

🔗 For those interested in reading more, the full study is linked here: lnkd.in/dYuZW_6Y

7/8

3️⃣ Medical services are sought more by people who rent their homes and less by non-white individuals during extreme heatwaves

6/8

1️⃣ People working or having worked in routine/manual occupations are less likely to shelter at home during extreme heatwaves
2️⃣ Older individuals remain more active during extreme heatwaves while those with mobility difficulties are more likely to shelter at home

5/8

People widely shelter at home during extreme heatwaves but remain slightly more active during moderate ones; however, there are important differences in adaptation according to the heat-related vulnerability factors of those exposed:

4/8

Using England’s National Travel Survey (2007–2019), this study examines how people adapt to heatwaves—by staying home or seeking medical services—across different heat intensities and detailed factors related to socio-demographics, health, employment, housing, and spatio-temporal context.

3/8

Heatwaves are commonly known as 'social disasters' which prey on existing inequalities. Despite growing concern for heatwaves globally, little is known about the social processes which shape heat exposure and limit people's capacities to adapt.

2/8

This research resulted from an exciting collaboration between the @tsuoxford.bsky.social @oxfordgeography.bsky.social and the Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University

www.tsu.ox.ac.uk
geog.hkbu.edu.hk

Full link to pre-print here: osf.io/preprints/so...

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🌍 Everyday adaptation to heatwaves is a global phenomenon
🏠 Withdrawal towards the home is the most common adaptive strategy
❌ Not all activities are abandoned equally
↔️ Adaptation is more than staying home -- sometimes involves visiting non-home, potentially cooling facilities

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In this study, we examine how people across 7 countries (🇧🇷🇨🇳🇫🇷🇮🇳🇳🇬🇹🇷🇺🇲) adapt their everyday activities to cope with the threat of extreme heat. Combining cell phone mobility, weather/climate, socio-demographic, and physical-geographic data, we reach the following conclusions:...

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