How extreme heat impacts vulnerable communities in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica
From schoolchildren in sweltering classrooms, to elders with pre-existing conditions, multiple Jamaican communities face disproportionate health risks due to mounting days of extreme heat.
To understand their daily experiences and desired interventions, the Feelin' Hot Caribbean climate resilience project set out to interview members of the most vulnerable communities, from May-July of 2025.
Most frequent words used in response to survey questions, visualized via WordStream
This report explores the results of the surveys, in which participants provided open-ended responses to questions regarding the impact of heat at home, work and school.
Conducted in and around May Pen, the capital of the southern parish of Clarendon, the bulk of the 54 surveys reflect the experiences of teachers.
But a handful of other community members also weighed in, with caregivers, coaches and outdoor workers also subject to excessive exposure to extreme heat.
37% of all respondents described experiencing heat stress symptoms or witnessing symptoms in their students or patients
The heat feels like it is penetrating into your brain and it's like a burning, injurious heart... The other day, I had to run out of the sun and put something on my head. You could feel the heat, like you are going to pass out, straight away. I had to come out of the sun and say, 'No sir. We are waiting until this is over to go back out again.'
— May Pen street vendor
The auditorium, it is very small. So when the students go there, most of the time, they're sweating. I remember there were a few students - I don't know if it was heat stroke or what - but two of them just fainted.
— Central High School teacher
92% of all respondents said heat adversely impacted their work
It's very hectic because some students have issues with heat. Sometimes you find students fainting because of the heat. You'll find students scratching their skin because of the heat. It's not easy in the summertime.
— Treadlight teacher
Here in the day, this is gruesome. And you find that if the breeze even do blow, the heat penetrates you more than the breeze blows at you.
— May Pen street vendor
Miserable... You feel hot. You just want to go and have your bath. But you can't do it because you are working.
— Buckshaven caregiver
Interviews with teachers and coaches focused on learning conditions; disparities in vulnerability among student populations; the affect of heat on students' performance; and coping mechanisms used to mitigate its impact.
91% of all educators said their classroom did not have AC
4% said their classroom had neither AC nor a fan.
We have fans in the classrooms, no AC. But to get effective cooling from the fan, you have to sit directly beneath the fan. So if students are on the outer section of the room, they are always hot and feeling fatigued, always want water.
— Denbigh teacher
For teachers as well as the students, once you get to the afternoons, everybody just feels exhausted and miserable. A number of students just shut down completely. They go to sleep, they are disruptive, they become hyperactive...Students would learn much better if they were in a classroom where they did not have to feel all of that heat.
— May Pen high school teacher
96% of educators said heat impacted students' attention or peformance
Caregivers were asked similar questions as educators, regarding their patients. Both groups said that they predominantly relied on hydration and fans to attempt to cool their environments, and observed that students and patients with pre-existing health conditions struggled in particular with the heat.
They have to be hydrated. Sometimes we take three water breaks and you have less than an hour to teach them... It really hampers our lesson for the day and teaching time with them.
— Denbigh coach
My elderly clients around this time, their high blood pressure is usually elevated.
— May Pen caregiver
You just have to just work right through it. You don't take breaks. The breaks is when you don't have a customer.
— May Pen market vendor
The AC bills is very high and the heat is very hot...This is our business, and whatever condition it comes with, we have to work with it.
— May Pen market vendor
The vast majority of heat-mitigating interventions that survey participants requested involved some form of increased cooling or shade, from more widespread installation of ac and fans, to the preservation or planting of trees.
Among the remaining responses, participants most often cited affordable electricity, government action and changes to the built environment.
23% of suggested solutions advocated for increased personal access to AC
20% of suggested solutions sought sufficient fans
16% of suggested solutions were devoted to planting trees
In the summer, we need to have those buildings where you can go in and cool down. We don't have that, unless you find yourself in somebody's store. Outside of a supermarket, the store whatever, we need to have that where you can't go in and cool down.
— May Pen market vendor
Development is happening without any space for rainwater harvesting, for the creation of green spaces.
— Denbigh teacher
They need to invest in solar to run the ACs. If the administration is going to buy ACs to go into the classrooms, government needs to fund the solar panels.
— Denbigh teacher
Feelin' Hot is a UNESCO-funded initiative that leverages cutting-edge satellite technology to create climate heat maps for Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten, and Jamaica. The project aims to empower communities with data-driven insights that can inform future urban planning and climate adaptation decisions. For more information about the project's heat mapping, visit feelinghot.org.
Feelin’ Hot developed three different surveys for the project, in which variations of questions regarding the impact of heat at home, work and school related to distinct participant populations. Composed of open-ended questions, the surveys allowed respondents to provide an unlimited number of answers and did not require respondents to answer every question in order to be included. A local surveyor conducted the interviews, in both one-on-one and group settings, and, with participants’ consent, recorded their responses. Over the course of 45 interviews, a total of 54 people participated.
Visualization of a group interview used to distinguish distinct survey responses
A data analyst transformed the surveyor’s notes on participants' responses into codes, and then listened to each audio file to validate the data. Using the Python programming language: Group interviews were diarized to extract and validate distinct survey responses. The audio files were transcribed and analyzed for symptoms of heat stress. Participants' locations and group type were analyzed and visualized. With the exception of a single, sentiment-related question, each set of responses to each survey question were analyzed by group type, count and percentage. A sentiment analysis, calibrated to challenges related to heat, was performed on educators' descriptions of summertime teaching experiences, per the surveyor's notes. Pre-trained AI models were incorporated in processing the audio files and performing the sentiment analysis. Transcription excerpts included on the site were edited for length and clarity.
Survey data analysis, visualization & site: Sarah Macaraeg
Surveyor: Tracey Edwards
Sunlight Through Palm Trees: Photo by Petr Kratochvil / Public Domain / Public Domain Pictures
Fruit Stand in Clarendon: Photo by Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble / CC BY 2.0 / Flickr
Schoolchildren: Photo from Pixnio / CC0 Public Domain
Street Vendor: Photo by Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Breadfruit Tree: Photo by George Chernilevsky / Public Domain / Public Domain Pictures
Street View: Photo by Rishikesh Yogpeeth / Unsplash License / Unsplash